Five times.

Bones had found himself here five times now.

There had been a time, when he was a pup, where Bones was afraid of the darkness. Giggle told him stories of how the caves used to be; that there wasn't a single light to be seen, and his bone had told him something similar. Darkness. Stifling, deep, darkness.

This was a different kind of darkness. It was warm-- not cold, like he'd expected the caves used to be. It was almost familiar to him now, and if he opened his eyes he was sure that, sometimes, he could see fleeting shapes just beyond his chrysalis.

Five times he'd been in a chrysalis. Ever since that dragon wrecked his back, he'd found it harder and harder to get around as he grew. The pain was never as severe when the injury first occurred, but it still throbbed. It exhausted him. A type of exhaustion that even long sleeps couldn't quite cure. Hibernation, however, and retreating into the chrysalis once more, worked wonders. He would be able to move again, without having to rest. He could see his family again. Maybe, just maybe, his brothers would be back when he re-emerged this time.

Escaping the chrysalis was no longer the wild fear it used to be. A simple push, an echoing crack, and Bones was free. The pale blue stone crumpled around him and, blinking back sleep and harsh light from his eyes, the painted dog stepped out of his alcove.

The first thing he did, while still dripping in the fluids within the gemstone prison, was inspect his paintings. Dried blood had still managed to preserve itself on the walls; mixed with long streaks of charcoal. A three-headed dog, a hyena, and a vulture were among some of his favourites to look at. To wonder about. To improve.

The second thing he did was go on a trek to look for some damn water. It was cold while he was wet, and the slicked-back fur felt fairly disgusting against his back. Slowly, the dog began pacing out into Canis with a shake of his fur, limping to the closest pool of stagnant water.

Giggle was not actually anywhere near. She was not, in fact, even aware that Bones had retreated to his chrysalis, nor where; she'd not seen him in cycles. But that was to be expected--he'd often wandered off, or returned to his gemstone, for long stretches of time.

She'd been busy getting herself back together. Getting the Bonebound, such as it was, back together--by sorting out the family drama that was Aza'zel's murderous troupe. At the moment, she was in fact napping--well back at her bone pit, head on paws, snoring lightly. She was dreaming pleasant dreams, for once, her tail twitching in her sleep.

Her familiar, though, was seeking food. The black bird had taken wing and was circling, probably looking for scraps of carrion the hyena had left behind--a bit of rat, a scrap of flesh still clinging to bone. Giggle normally fed her, and she wasn't ravenous, but she wasn't tired, either. So, idly, she was widening her search.

Wings spread, the single crimson eye peering this way and that--the head tilting to odd angles so that she could see the ground.

Bones.

...The bird knew Bones. It had memories of him, though whether these were Omen's own, or taken from Giggle's mind, was confusingly unclear. But the recognition was there, and Omen gave a long and haunting call from high overhead.

Its excitement reached Giggle quite far off, and in her sleep, the hyena began to stir.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

The Bonebound --- they were together, at least. Well, some were simply familiar with one another, but it was a start which Aure sorely hoped would do his father proud.

Following the gathering, the wyvern often sat idly near the very precipice that his father used to speak from. Bright eyes would stare at the stone for ages, wondering what Aza'zel looked like, atop that worn old stone. From what Mother had shown him, Aure knew they bore a striking resemblance. Minus the subtle differences in facial structure, stone, and ears, both were nearly identical. Their shadows essentially were one and the same. The young leader stared at his follower for quite some time when he came to this realization. How alike were they, really?

Aza'zel had been a good King, yet Aure couldn't come to that conclusion, quite yet.

Disc-shaped ears snapped up toward the lilt of Omen's calls. His own mane stood on end, alarm ringing through his body. But, that call had not been one of danger. No, this was excitement. Ecstatic. His head whirled about, keen eyes spotting the black form of the caller against Canis's low roof. It seemed to circle above a fixed point, which he followed. Aure took wing for but a moment, gliding against the floor smoothly to make better time toward Omen. Beneath its winding patterns were --- a stranger. "Hello," he chirped, hoping not to startle the canine creature. They looked... oddly familiar. Unsettled feelings resided in his gut, but he pressed on.

Perhaps, this was just a friend of Giggle's that he only vaguely remembered. He alighted some distance from the painted dog, wings tucking to his side and ears back. Aure craned his neck, tossing his head slightly towards Omen. A clear indicator. "Do you know that bird?"

When Bones came to the pool of stagnant water he first bent his head down and began to drink, lapping greedily at the water. His mouth was dry-- as it so often was when he broke out of hibernation again. He'd even begun to start cleaning his fur when he heard Omen's call from above.

He turned his head upwards, startled. For a moment he wondered if it was just prey, circling, but eventually-- "oh, hello, Omen," he called upwards, then turned his head and resumed cleaning himself of the fluids still clinging to his fur.

Bones found himself interrupted again-- but thankfully, this time, not startled --as a second creature landed next to him. He glanced over, nodded at Aza'zel, and went back to cleaning the moltted fur on his back, his neck craning right back to try to reach the bumpy scars beneath it.

Wait.

Aza'zel?

Bones stopped dead in his tracks, pink tongue still lolling out out his mouth, dark eyes flicking towards the hybrid. It... looked like Aza'zel, but it'd been so long. His head went to his paintings, instinctively-- but he didn't see any differences. Perhaps it was a little taller but, really, that was hard to tell.

"Grandfather?" He asked quietly. He thought the bird had died many cycles ago-- he thought he saw one of his many sons wearing his body around his back. He thought Eythan had his stone. Had that all been a dream, while Bones was asleep? How long had he been asleep for?

"That," he breathed, looking up. "Is Omen. Mom's friend. Err-- she helped mom when she was lost for a while, but I don't think you were around when that happened?" There was a long pause as Bones stood up and shook water and sticky fluid off his back, limping over uncertainly.

"Where did you go?" He asked. "I think I-- had a dream. I don't know. Um. How are you?" He sniffed the wyvern-like hybrid once close enough. It smelled like Aza'zel, or what he remembered Aza'zel smelled like. He shook himself again, lighter this time, a gesture to try to steady himself more than anything else.

Omen gave another call.

Muted by half-sleep, the hyena's thoughts ran back and forth to her familiar, translated--in some sense--into words by her own mind.

What is it?

It is the son. From your mind, Omen seemed to add, and Giggle briefly saw, as if secondhand, a garbled version of one of her own memories: Bones painting blood on a wall.

She came fully awake in an instant, dark eyes springing open, thick legs shoving her up. She didn't bother to shake away the fungus or the dander, instead breaking into a lopsided, stiff lope--as rapid as she could with muscles so rudely awakened. Giggle was unsure how long Bones had hibernated, this time--he did so with such frequency, and she hadn't been herself for so long that she'd lost track. When had she last seen him? Had it been since, or before, her last encounter with Senka? She thought before. Was he all right? Worry sparked in her, but Omen felt and understood her concern easily enough.

She saw, almost at once, a flickered and brief image as seen through her familiar's eyes: Bones, and Aure. Was that Aure? What was he doing there?

It was only a vague confusion--perhaps Bones hadn't been hibernating after all, but travelling the caves, and had met Aure along the way?--and she dismissed it at once.

It was time for a family reunion--of sorts. She just had to... get there first.

Panting, she plowed onward, over stone and dust, toward her sons.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

Warm, dark eyes met his, a spark of confused recognition within them — so subtle, yet so there. Aure furrowed his own brow, wondering if perhaps he had been mistaken for someone else. Before he could even open his beak to deny any familiarity (as much as deja vu was settling deep within his gut) the stranger spoke. He drew his head back slightly, confused. Wait— no, this wasn't right. "I'm not—" he began, but stopped for the sake of hearing out Bones. The painted dog approached, a limp in his gait. His words were distant, uncertain. Aure knew, then, that he was mistaken.

The wyvern paused for a moment, tilting his head up as the stranger sniffed at him. He sniffed in return, only receiving the distinct new smell that a chrysalis tended to give a Gembound. As unfamiliar as this stranger was, Aure couldn't help but to offer up a few licks to those hard-to-reach spots, minding the jagged patchwork of his scars. Does he think… that I'm Aza'zel? Is this Mother's son, too? Bright eyes furrowed deeply, and he stopped. Beak shutting with an audible click, he drew back. My brother?

A deep breath, a swell of throat feathers. I have to tell him. Aure began, murmuring gently, "I'm sorry, I—" His wings tucked to his sides, and he lowered his head to showcase his very hyena-esque ears. "I don't know who you are and… I'm not Aza'zel, if that's who you're thinking of."

@Bones

For a moment Bones was silent, dark eyes blinking very slowly. Eventually, his muzzle tilted up with a ragged sigh, as he realised. Aza'zel was, in fact, still dead. And had been dead for many cycles now. It wasn't a dream.

"I'm sorry," he murmured with a grimace. "You look like--" he blinked again in the face of hyena ears-- Giggle? Bones tilted his head, oversized ears flicking back against his head.

"Err, Bones," he said. "My name's Bones-- I'm a painter?" He gestured towards the red paintings on the West Wall with a turn of his head, slowly shifting to sit back on his haunches.

Uneasily, the dog looked back towards Auré, a little uncertainly at that. He figured that he'd likely bothered what was a complete stranger enough for one day, and slowly began shifting backwards, closer to the water than to Auré.

"I'll, um, just... go back to... cleaning," he said, a little embarassed as he turned his head to go back to grooming his slicked-back fur.

@Giggle

Omen landed near the two, tilting its head to and fro. It watched Bones, and then Aure, though always tensed to take flight should one pounce her. "BONES," she croaked abruptly, loudly, the sound ringing over the-... well, bones.

And that was all she said. She knew the word--could even vaguely associate it with the one before her--but it was more cried out because it was ringing through her mind from Giggle, over and over.

Giggle, for her part, rushed headlong over the rock. One she stumbled, legs skidding out from under her, and barely managed to avoid a fall through piles of ribs. Her paws scrabbled on the stone, kicking up dust, and then she was off again. A few minutes after being woken, she barreled into sight of the two--and her voice rang out with joy.

"BONES!" she cried, in an unintentional echo of her familiar's call. She wasted no time, and for once her slow, cynical, world-weary demeanor vanished. Instead she raced for her sons, skidding to a halt almost too late--probably bouncing off bones, her rump switching to and fro too rapidly to follow as if she were wagging her short tail. Her ears pinned, her head low, and she went about hyper-rapidly sniffing over first Bones, then Aure, soft short whines of joy escaping her. Licking, scenting, nuzzling, bouncing off them--all in hyper-fast time--Giggle discarded all dignity, lost in the moment of joyous reunion.

"Where have you been?! I've MISSED you, child!" --this, though Bones was barely a cycle or two younger than she was. He would always be her son.

It didn't occur to Giggle that the last time Bones had seen her, she'd likely been a nonsensical wreck--bone-thin, filled with fear and madness. She had recovered since then. Her pelt was thick (if still filthy with fungus and dried gore), her dark eyes clear, her body muscled and heavy once more.

Aure was not exempt from her excited greeting, either; it was clear that nothing brought Giggle more joy than to see her children once again. Of course, she had no way of knowing about their confusion over identity--that they didn't know, yet, that they were siblings. ...Of a sort.

In Giggle's mind, at least.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Aure

Aure's ears flickered back, then flattened and he, too, sighed. "No, I-I'm sorry," he deflected, shaking his head, "I should've introduced myself quicker." It was a heartfelt statement. His shoulders sank visibly where he sat, head lowering. Bright eyes seemed to lose their characteristic enthusiasm for... well, living. For the moment, anyways. "My name's Auré and—" he glanced toward the westernmost wall of Canis, scanning for the indicated paintings, "I've never seen them before."

Curiosity piqued, the wyvern immediately wanted to go and look at them, but stayed in order to be good emotional support for his mistaken identity. He preened at Bones's back for a few moments more before looking up with downright shock. Here, barreling his and this scar-ridden dog's way, was a newly-awakened Giggle. Auré wooped softly, an instinctive response before backing away. This is definitely Mother's son, he thought, returning the quick sniffs with a nuzzle of his own. "Hello, Mother," he chirped, clicking his beak and smiling. Despite the despondency that had plagued him previously, the wyvern couldn't help but to shake his tail wildly as well.

He spared a glance to either canine, asking neither in particular, "is Bones your child, too? My brother?"

@Bones