Eythan listened with far more intensity than he expected of himself, likely because this tale was possibly true. Somehow, rooting something in reality made it at least twice as interesting to the hybrid. This Lorekeeper, as it seemed, was possibly a Gembound like he and Giggle, but different. Never a child? And there was a period of time called the Great Noise. Loud and full of calamity. Was it like the Great Awakening that birthed the late Bone King?

These not-Gembound had to hide away from the monsters in the light, avoiding execution. They must not have been meant to exist or they had committed some crime against the loud ones. And they found silence and solitude in these very caves, long ago. They explored and ventured through all caves except one. Eythan began to check off the caves he knew of mentally, as the bonecaster said them: Orion, Polaris, Pisces, Eridanus. That wasn't a great number of caves, but the name soon came along. Cetus was rather unfamiliar to him, surprisingly. He didn't care much for frolicking through unseeing mists.

He nodded mutely at the question of hearing of Nemean, but with a haphazard shrug noting that he hadn't personally encountered the little gremlin. But who were all of these other Gembound that were traveling with the Lorekeeper? Where were they now? Dead, probably. This story offered up more questions than answers, it seemed. "I think... my fathers fought Raheerah in Polaris. I found a big, black scale on top of my chrysalis when I was born. It had a bunch of lines on it painted in red." The long armed and legged creature reminded him of some creature he had heard of, glimpsed.

"I knew we weren't the first ones here, but... there were Gembound different from us. And creatures that maybe aren't Gembound?" There was an unspoken question within his final statement: "how did they survive without their stone?" "Maybe we weren't meant to be here." Eythan flicked his ears back. "A couple cycles ago, I would've just let them come back in. But," he paused, glancing toward the den, "I've got shit to fight for and protect, if I won't for myself. Those assholes abandoned the Caves, and they don't get to just fuckin' take it back without one helluva fight."

Maybe full-on war would be the one thing that finally united the Gembound. Common enemies tended to nurture alliances.

@Giggle

"Oh, she has a stone. I think they all do," the hyena added, thoughtful. Her mind worked, trying to remember: where had Lorekeeper's been? Ahh--purple, and jutting out from her side. But the rest? She'd not seen many, only heard of them secondhand.

"I know that the stag who wanders the caves is said to have a red gem between his eyes, like me. The same magic, too. It made me curious, but I have never seen him." Yet a memory of him lingered, and again the hyena doubted her own sanity--was it a memory of a mental image of a description, or had she seen him, and had her time "away" made her forget..? Unsettled, she shoved the thought violently from her mind with a sharp shake of her head. "And that shit-cat had a pale crystal between her shoulderblades. Regardless--it is as you say. It is larger than us--there are greater things happening in the world and we mustn't be caught unawares, or we risk being overwhelmed."

Giggle entered a brief and pensive silence, and then glanced back over toward where Aure slept. "Go back, and look after him, would you? I'll bring you both some rats."

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Eythan

"But you said she said she was never a child," Eythan demurred softly, "all Gembound start as children. Even the lessers. Is there another level to us?" With a little chuckle, he added, "the greatest Gembound?" Well, that sounded dumb, didn't it. Glancing to Giggle's red stone, he pointed out quietly, "Skeena does too." Realizing that his previous father must have had a similar stone shape as well, Eythan shook his head. "I mean, yeah, she's your daughter, but I think her gem isn't like yours. It's too---" he paused, trying to think of a word to describe it, but eventually gave up, making a theremin sound with a vague paw-wave instead.

He spared a glance back toward Giggle's den, ears laid back. "I hope... that Aure decides that he wants to be the Bone King. I think he'll be a good one but, time will only tell." Bright eyes met dark ones again, and Eythan stood to clarify, "we need strong families in times like this, strong Gembound." In the hyena's silence, he stood.

As soon as the bonecaster suggested he go and look after Aure, Eythan shook his head violently --- not at the idea of doting on his brother, because he absolutely would if he could, but at the fact that Giggle would even offer to bring rats. "Hey, no. You just got nearly fuckin' knocked out by yours truly. You go and rest." Persistently nudging the hyena's shoulder, he tapped his talons against the stone. "C'mon, I'll get the fuckin' rats."

"You're better at the caretaking thing, anyways."

@Giggle

Giggle listened, studying Eythan thoughtfully as he spoke.

"I know she has a gem, but I only know that she said she was never a child. She was clear on that, at least. I don't understand it either. It seems... unnatural," Giggle agreed, unaware that being a hyena whose life force was supported by an embedded stone was far from natural.

"We'll see what he wants. We aren't here to use him as our leader, or as anything else." For a moment, Giggle paused. What was the point of nominating Aure, specifically? They had no idea what he'd be like, whether he'd be a good leader, or not. She took a breath, and spoke honestly. "But if he wishes to be... your father was our leader, and a good one, and if we are to have one, his legacy may as well continue there. Supported," she added with a pointed look at Eythan, "by you. His other legacy."

And last, the offer of rats. She was half-tempted to argue the point--she felt perfectly capable of hunting--but she found that she was weary enough to take the excuse, and anyway, Eythan seemed eager to earn his place. All right. But as for her being so badly beaten... She offered him a grin. "I went easy on you," she answered with rough humor--brash, to those who didn't know her, but those who did would know she was joking.

She then turned, brush tail hanging wearily as she paced back toward the den. "Good hunting, then. See you soon; and don't take too long. The little one's decided you're his favorite blanket, and if he wakes up before you get back, he'll be disappointed."

With that she made her way down the path, and slowly out of sight.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

exit Giggle; @Eythan

Truly, the irony here was that all of the Gembound were far from natural, right down to the straight-up growth from seemingly nothing. Oh, and the whole method of reproduction boiling down to shedding off a piece of one's life and imbuing it into another's stone and planting it like a seed. Not that Eythan particularly had experience with that. He wasn't ready for that, quite yet. Given how much he adored Aure, the door was still opened. Just a crack, he thought, hoped.

"I didn't mean it like that, I--- I don't know." There was a lilting hesitation to his voice. "I'm doing my best to guide him and help him. I think he'll be able to learn how to glide a lot sooner than I ever was able to. I had to get Remedy --- you met her, right? --- to teach me how to fly because I..." he laughed softly, "was being a brat and running away from home, from Dad." Eythan couldn't help the slight tear that came to his eye, though, as he was referred to as Azazel's other legacy. In a way, it was true. The Bone King had left behind some sort of legacy to carry on, and as he knew it, he and Aure were the only ones left. Kesil and Bremen had some sort of strange disconnect from the family, abandoning it at a moment's notice (Eythan couldn't help but to wonder if it was his fault.) In another way, it was even truer. The gryphon had always been sidelined in life.

But he didn't mind it. He relished in it, even. Impulse was a dangerous thing in the spotlight.

Blinking, Eythan balked, "well---! I went easy on you!" Already beginning to scoot in the other direction, toward the so-called Rat Boulders, he gave a bark of laughter at the hyena's warning. "You sound jealous! You're his favorite caretaker. I'm just a brother who happens to be very warm." With that, he turned back over his shoulder and trotted toward the rocks, off to hunt.

; exit Eythan