Giggle plodded over to Lorekeeper in an overly-familiar fashion, even though they hadn't been all that closely-acquainted. They were neighbors, though, and to Giggle's mind, Lorekeeper was not too unlike her.

She sniffed her over, briefly, not interrupting the two as they spoke, not reacting when Omen--flying overhead--gave off its soft and haunting cry. Instead, the hyena merely flopped to her own haunches, and then dropped to lie down beside the strange, many-eyed wolf-like creature. She was lame--she had always been lame--and Giggle remembered when Bones had cared for her, bringing her food, or grooming her.

Without thinking too much on it, she leaned over to try and start to do the same--to lick over and groom Lorekeeper's purple fur while the other two Gembound spoke to one another.

It just seemed like the natural, normal thing to do, and Giggle didn't even bother to ask permission. Hopefully, Lorekeeper would not bite her too badly for this oversight.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

Appeared in Polaris...? The gangly dog leaned forward, eyes squinting toward the entrance of Canis where it knew carvings existed. "THE SAME?" she barked, her purple fur rising rigidly. Silent for a moment, she thought of the carvings and faces in them, then her expression soured. "No... those hooligans..." her voice creaked, whipping her head around to the dragon. "THEY HAVE BEEN... DISPATCHED." And the mess they made was still there! All these years later! She huffed a snarling sound, unsure about the event in Polaris.

"If it is runes... I cannot scribe." She made a skittering, strange laughing sound, winking her eyes at her own joke. "There is one..."

The Lorekeeper settled down for her story, reacting not at all to the hyena's attentions.

"Once, long long ago," she began, her voice dropping into a dramatic croak. "it was decided that a door must be built, to the north of Canis. This door was to be of heaviest stone, and workers were gathered for the task. There were those who tended to their duties responsibly. They toiled and worked, day in and day out. But some of the workers were unhappy with their labor--with the weight of the stone, with the backbreaking work, with the harshness of their masters. The dust was thick, and hard to breathe, and their bodies ached with the strain."

Lorekeeper paused dramatically, her many toxic-green eyes bright.

"They decided that they would do something other than work! But what to do..? They could not rebel, for they were not strong enough, or smart enough or brave enough. But they were too angry, too sullen and stubborn, to keep working as they were."

Another pause stretched.

"They stumbled into their own little form of rebellion soon enough! Whenever watchful eyes left them they would sneak away. They would take their tools, and slip off from their work, and rather than build, and rather than hide, or truly fight back, they would carve crude drawings in the stone walls. These drawings were insulting to their masters--right or wrong--but they had no place in these walls. When the workers were caught, they moved to writing in other places--even my very home! Not a moment passed but one was not hidden away, carving its stubborn insults into the rock. Miscreants!"

Lorekeeper paused, tongue lolling, expression dark even now--so many years later. Her poor home! The terrible drawings! "Who knows how they were caught. Perhaps one was followed as it left its duties! Or perhaps the carvings were found first, and the connection was made by their masters. But found again they were, and this time, there was no mercy. These specific Gembounds were... disposed of. And that is the end of their story." Lorekeeper nodded to Asimona. "Astraea aided me in cleaning my home of these crude drawings, since many were of him. Rude!! Rude." A huff. "Yet you say now they are in Polaris..?" Toxic-green eyes narrowed at this, the purple fur along her back again rising.

@Asimona