Zawadi was now a little bigger than she was when she first joined The Bonebound. She now also looked up to Giggle as her mother figure. The hyena cub honestly cared a lot for Giggle and The Bonebound. Honestly when she reached four cycles, she would join the group in its entirety as a full fledged member. Zawadi carried a cave rat, her lunch, in her jaws as she looked for a place to eat. She found a place in a corner and dropped her meal at her paws. She decided to speak in her language (Tswana) for a moment, not the language she spoke when she had met Giggle and Aure. "I am so bored. I wish I could take up a rank like Giggle so I could do more in The Bonebound." She honestly wished she could, but she was only two cycles old. She had two more cycles to go before she could even fully integrate herself in the group. Zawadi then decided to call for Giggle to discuss her place in The Bonebound. The hyena cub let out a few whoops to bring the older hyena to her. She had her mind set on doing more, and hopefully Giggle would oblige.

@Giggle

Giggle was resting at one of her usual haunts: the ledge over her bone pit. Somewhere in the distance she could hear a hyena cub being rowdy, and that was fine; there were two of them, now, and this pleased her.

She wasn't sure why it was being so noisy, but it didn't sound distressed, at least. Best to check on it, anyway. Omen? She sent her mind to her familiar; the bird was circling not far off, and answered her mental prod with a spark of gentle curiosity. If Giggle had had to translate that into thought, it'd have been something like, Yes, mother-sister?

Did you hear that sound? She held the whooping she'd just heard in her mind, and the bird examined it only briefly before returning an affirmative response--something, quite simply, like Yes.

Check on it, would you? It's one of the hyena children--and here, she sent a mental image of what to look for, as best she could--Make sure that nothing's wrong.

The bird turned, eager to be involved, and flapped off.

It took several moments, but she found Zawadi eventually, chewing on a rat she'd caught. The bird circled overhead, crying out hauntingly for a moment.

Giggle could see Zawadi, faintly, through the eyes of her familiar. Well, the cub looked fine--hunting, too, by the looks of it. Good. A cub that could take care of themselves was a good thing; Zawadi, last time they'd spoken, had said she knew how to hunt. It seemed that this had been quite true.

Giggle had no reason to push up and wander all the way to the cub for just a few whooping calls, but she did send a few thoughts to Omen nonetheless. Tell her--can you make these sounds? Imitate this--say 'ARE YOU OKAY.' Can you say that?

Instead, the bird began to call out unhelpfully down at Zawadi with a cacophony of garbled, jumbled words--it didn't understand speech, and only imitated them blindly, cheerfully shouting nonsense.

"OKAY YOU ZADWI OKAY HUNT SAY OKAY YOU!"

So, Zawadi didn't quite get what she'd hoped for--but then, Giggle was no mind reader. Well, not unless she wanted to be. But Zawadi did get a Hallowed Caller shouting at her from high up in the air, which was... something.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Zawadi

Zawadi watched as Giggle's familiar attempted to ask her if she was ok. Of course she was ok, but she wanted to do more. Zawadi looked up at Omen and spoke loudly for it to hear her. "Yes I'm ok! I just want to speak to Giggle about me taking up an actual rank in the group! Like the rank she has!" Well, the hyena cub spoke of what was on her mind. She was happy to be a part of the Bonebound, but she felt she wasn't doing much. Zawadi wanted to feel exultant in the group, filled with purpose. She just felt like a dependent child now.

@Giggle

Giggle got the gist of it through Omen. For a moment she intended to try to get Omen to explain to the kid that if she didn't want to be rude, she should have just come up to the bone pile rather than asking Giggle to wander halfway across the caves.

But--she knew that the hyena cub was young, and it might wear her out. She started to stand, begrudgingly, then rethought it. Still a good lesson, though, isn't it? She's got to learn to consider others.

That being said, Omen was hardly the most reliable creature in terms of communication, so Giggle cast out her mind, seeking Zawadi through the visual that her familiar gave her.

If you want to speak with me, she told the cub--attempting to speak directly into Zawadi's mind--you know where to find me. If not, Omen can lead you here. I would be happy to speak with you. She didn't say it rudely, nor let her irritation bleed through; Zawadi was still a cub, really, and she was determined to be patient with her.

But lessons were lessons, no matter how small.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Zawadi

Zawadi gave a short sigh, realizing that if nothing was seriously wrong with her, she should not call Giggle like this. The cub stood to her paws and walked knowing good and well where Giggle was. She walked and once she reached where Giggle was she sat down. Zawadi would then begin to speak. "Giggle, I called you because I wanted to take up an actual rank within The Bonebound, like the one you have. Is there a way to go about doing that? I am now two cycles old, I think I am ready to do more." The cub would wait for Giggle's response. The hyena cub knew she was ready to do more.

@Giggle

Giggle waited, head on paws, for the cub to arrive. Omen foreshadowed the approach, soaring overhead with haunting calls before at last landing beside the older hyena, settling and beginning to pick at her fur.

When at last Zawadi arrived, Giggle's head raised, and she watched the pup with wise, dark eyes.

"A rank?" she asked--the bluntness of the question not so wise, as if she'd been caught off-guard. And, in a sense, she had. Most gembound wanted nothing to do with ranks and titles--just to exist in the family, so to speak, and even that was vague. They often didn't show themselves for cycles at a time. This was-... a nice change.

"That's admirable," she went on. She pushed up, shaking out her coat (Omen quickly hopping aside), then paced over to try to touch her nose to Zawadi's, in greeting.

"What is it that you want to do? What are you good at? In cycles past we had seers--myself, and my daughter is training, too; Skeena, if you've met her. We had guardians, big strong gembound who learned to fight," she continued. Her mind went to Kerberos, his massive and beloved white bulk guarding the entrance to the cave. "If you just want to be helpful--you can start by helping the others hunt, perhaps. Maybe travel the caves, once you're older, find out if there's anyone else who'd like to join us. But in the meantime, maybe train for something more, later on; it depends on what you enjoy doing. What you're good at. Do you know?" She paused nearby the cub. She didn't know Zawadi well enough to know her likes, her dislikes, her desires.

Perhaps the cub herself didn't know, yet, either.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Zawadi

Zawadi wagged her tail at Giggle greeting. She felt a spark of pride by Giggle telling her that it was admirable. Her ears perked up as she listened intently to Giggle and what she was saying. What was it she wanted to do? Well, Zawadi loved to hunt, so that seemed to be a big option for her. When Giggle asked her what she was good at doing, her answer was right there. "Well I am good at hunting and I love to hunt. Maybe I could help the others hunt and hone my hunting skills. Then when I am older, I could possibly take up a rank as a hunter." Zawadi sat down, and felt good with her decision. Being a hunter sounded fun.

@Giggle

It still baffled her that one so young could be so eloquent. It might normally have annoyed her, given her own brash nature, but something about the cub (perhaps her keen mind, or eagerness to please, or the simple fact that she was a hyena cub) made her just a tad too endearing to get too angry about.

Giggle considered.

Having a hunter wasn't a bad idea. Hell, it was even a good one. It wasn't that they didn't all hunt for themselves--they did--but someone specializing in it, learning to perfect it, and then passing on that knowledge to the new Gembound wasn't at all a bad thing. That, and having someone to bring in extra food, maybe, when someone was injured.

"...A hunter, hrm?" she mused aloud, thoughtfully.

"If you were to learn everything you can about the rats, the mice, the cave deer, maybe teach the new Boenbound as they hatch... Hrm. Not a bad idea at all. I'll tell you what--go train yourself how to hunt, and get back to me in a few days. Tell me everything you know, once you come back, about hunting. Meanwhile I'll have a word with Aure and see about a rank," the hyena smirked, though it was good-naturedly.

With Zawadi's initiative, she might prove a valuable member of the Bonebound. Bones know we could use a few more like her.


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ROLL THE BONES

@Zawadi

Zawadi perked up with her tail wagging rapidly. She now had more confidence, and was going to make certain that she trained to earn that rank. "Really?! Thanks Giggle! I promise to learn about the prey that dwells in the cave and train myself. I promise to do my best." Though Zawadi did not expect this to be easy. It was going to be trial and error. Though she was determined to prove herself in the group. With that the cub scampered off to start her training. Zawadi was motivated and she was going to take this seriously. After all, the Bonebound was her family, and she wanted to be worthy of a rank among them.

-Exit

@Giggle

Giggle rather bemusedly listened, and equally bemusedly watched as the cub scampered off. Such a strange one--but seems good-hearted. She shook herself, moving to pace down toward her den.

Zawadi could hunt, for now; Giggle would indeed have a word with Aure... after she had a nap.

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ROLL THE BONES

exit Giggle