The hyena cackled as she hurtled the heavy jawbone off her outcrop and into the pit below. She spoke as she watched it fall, as it clattered into the rest. "Questions upon questions, you ask of the bones. I will ask them. I will ask them for you. Be quiet! And be still." She was cautious before, but now she was confident: in her element as she watched the bones spin and fall aside, as she noted the patterns they made as they settled back down, as she watched which ones rocked and which fell still, which were thrown quite far and which were hardly budged.

At length, she began to speak.

"The first questions, come first. I do not know the Children of Rot! But in their future, I see first water, as the grey bones that fall and flow. I have seen this before! The return of the tides! The power of great water. I see then, in the frozen bones, the ones-that-do-not-move, I see that water freezing! --Perhaps not the water, Dragon, but a lack of change. There is no movement. No progress!" She did not stop there, however, searching the bones intently. She chittered as she spotted a tangle of bones that had not fallen very far at all, and to the reptile, she explained what this meant. "I see a family, tangled and stopped. Your Children, perhaps! They are delayed. Troubled! As the ice. These, Children, will not last. It is a rebirth that will fail." Giggle herself had no idea, of course, that Dragon was indeed considering reforming the Children of Rot--she simply saw what the bones told her, and interpreted it accordingly.

"And now you speak of secrets! And how to uncover them," she declared. She trotted back down, body moving with a springy energy unlike its normal cautious creeping--again, she was in her element. She gave Serek a friendly nuzzle as she passed him, not having forgotten his presence here; she knew he held great curiosity, and she encouraged it. She had seen for him great wisdom and knowledge--and she was hoping that he was paying attention to her readings. Perhaps, in time, he could see what she saw--see the patterns that she could see.

Perhaps he already could.

She sniffed and poked among the bones for a long moment, eventually drawing forth a small, not particularly noticeable bone--slightly twisted, unrecognizable in form. A bone of secrets. Then, searching farther, she found a large, short but strong bone, and this one--equating it with the strength of "masters," the third question--she settled alongside the first. After some work she managed to get both into her jaws, carrying them back up to her ledge.

She waited to see, this time, if Serek would wish to join her--and then she dropped both bones, kicking with one long forepaw the "bone of secrets"--small and not noticeable--into the pile below. She lay down with a sudden flop as she watched the bone fall, and how it fell, and how it affected the rest. "I see light," she declared, as several white bones--the light brightly glinting from them--fell away. "Knowledge. Clarity. They are beacons, they are allies! And I see again the rebirth and the family, but this time, it is not so tangled, and it moves. You must seek truth, Dragon, seek to illuminate it with allies! If these are your Children, then I do not know--but it ends again in the frozen ice. It ends unending, it ends in stasis and crystal and stone, never-changing. Perhaps you can find truths--but do nothing with them. Perhaps you will find new allies, and seek--and find things--and then all will fall apart, apart! --Or remain as they are, forever, unchanged!"

Without bothering to guess on this further, the hyena took the last bone: the short, thick, strong one--and this she hurled down with her teeth. She watched it strike with a satisfying clatter, watching quite a few little ribs and clawed bones fly from her pile, forming clear shapes that sent ideas reeling through her mind.

"I do not see shadows and darkness. I see a gift, freely given: I see allies, friends, and that gift is of great importance. Perhaps not cruel overlords, Dragon, but gift-givers, nothing more! I see then a separation! A falling-apart, a split. Lost, or perhaps rejected! They were or will be or must be, taken away! There is then completion, the things come back together. Life! Life! Two things, as one, taken apart, and brought back together. This is how it must be. This is as it should be."

Giggle looked to Dragon expectantly after all of this, awaiting his response, his reaction. She had read the bones; she had seen the truths. The question was, how would he handle it?

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Serek

As Mother tossed the bone into the pile, he leaned over eagerly and watched it fall. The clattering bones spread and he tried to keep focused on all of them, but he quickly lost site of many of the bones that had moved. And when all settled, he tried to devine some meaning from the pit, but he could understand nothing. They just looked mundane, another pile of bones scattered a bit by the one Mother had tossed.

He frowned with disappointment and tried to come up with some meaning, but it was too late. Mother was already speaking. So he listened closely, trying to divine this meaning from the bones. He saw a little of it, but not a lot and only when she pointed it out. He shook out his head. This was difficult. Mother was amazing to be able to see all that in the bones.

As she passed by and gave him a soft nuzzle, he gave her pelt a quick lick. The taste of the gore and fungus didn't bother him. He was used to it by now. A weird thought crossed his head as his eyes moved over Dragon. What would those scales taste like to lick? It was a thought that he didn't like in his head and quickly pushed it away. He stepped up next to mother and stared down again, this time from exactly where she was standing.

Two more time he tried to divine meaning from the bones and two more times he failed, even standing next to her. However, he was becoming interested in what this meaning was. Who were the children of Rot? Who were these masters that dragon spoke of, and the elders?

Once the reading was complete, he turned and, after a moment of gather his courage, looked up at Dragon and managed to stammer out, "U-um, if you don't mind me asking, who are the Children of Rot?"

"I'm screaming submission"
I don't know if I am dying or living

tags: @Dragon
notes:

Dragon listened with an ever-deepening sense of unease. He wasn't sure if Giggle had heard of his plans from another--perhaps so? She certainly had a lot of visitors for soothsaying, or so he'd have guessed by the pile at her feet. But what if she had not? What if she somehow knew of all of this, just like that; did it make her predictions equally true?

"And how accurate are your predictions, soothsayer?" he demanded in his booming voice.

Was it possible? Was it possible that Astraea, Tenzin, and the rest--that their masters were benevolent, after all? That all of this mystery and hiding was all for some unknown greater good..? Perhaps. Aquarian told us nothing, yet he did speak to us nonetheless.

"If this rebirth fails--what would cause it? Is there a way to fix this? I do not wish my allies dead," he added, only realizing what he'd said after it came out of his mouth.

Huh. He cared.

That was news.

To Serek, he spoke more slowly, turning his heavy body to face the youth. He wasn't sure how much he should give away--and he waited to see if Giggle would speak first. But she seemed to hold her secrets close--or perhaps she truly didn't know who the Children of Rot were. At length, Dragon spoke, huffing once in thought. "We are those who dwelled in the swamp far from here. Or rather, we were. We served the great Aquarian--my father in the black lake, larger than anything else in the caves!--and in return he kept us safe. He swore that we would learn the secrets of the caves, should we live long enough; and to live, we had but to feed him."

He could have been lying, Dragon thought to himself, but pushed the thought away. It was his father! Aquarian wouldn't lie.

"There are many things kept secret in these caves, little one. Even by those who claim to be its guardians, and our protectors--they admit to serving other masters. But do not tell them that you know this--for in time, should we learn too much and too openly, they may turn on us. I do not know. But we, the Children: we sought the truth. I believe we will rise again... unless your soothsayer knows otherwise," he added drily.

Giggle listened in silence.

Half her mind was with Omen, watching again overhead, keeping a blood-red eye on the caves nearby, on the bones, for intruders. For attackers. For Eyes--out of habit.

The other half heard Dragon's words, and swam with them, gripping them in her imagination-teeth and fleeing into the hallucination-dark with them. She could see creatures scurrying in the muck-black, bringing plants--meat?--to some strange overlord that she knew nothing of. Survival.

She looked down to her bones in silence as Dragon spoke further, seeking patterns in the answers to his questions, and answers in the patterns of the bones.

And patterns she saw: clear and strong. Her dark eyes closed, squeezed shut with the weight of knowledge, then opened, and she spoke. Her voice rang--hoarse, yes, but loud--through the bone pit with greater-than-usual conviction.

It was almost a command.

"Do not break, Dragon, even when one of you dies. Perhaps many of you. There are cycles in these caves: I see the loss of a child. The separation of one from many. Do not break. Push on, and fight. You must fight. Fight past the losses you will sustain and fight past what is taken from you, and you will overcome."

She looked to Dragon, and then to Serek--then back to Dragon, confidently silent.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Serek

Serek spoke with increasing interest. Although he would never admit it, there was a deep rooted desire within him for a protector, a guardian. And perhaps more then a desire, a need. Mother was doing a good job right now, but Mother did not look strong, at least that was what he thought. Besides, Dragon looked a lot bigger and if Aquarion was even bigger then him, Serek couldn't imagine how much power it would have.

He saw himself, standing beside dragon, strong, tall, and proud with faceless creatures around them - the rest of the Children of Rot and a huge shadow behind them, one that touched the ceiling of the cave. He saw it so clearly that he could not and help himself - he closed his eyes and smiled.

But he didn't want to leave Mother! Or the siblings. But he was getting older now and he was getting restless. He wanted to leave! Leave the cave, leave the bones, see other places. Perhaps this swamp that Dragon spoke of. He had forgotten his fear behind and it was replaced with excitement and impatience. He wanted to go. But how would Mother react? How would Dragon react?

He pawed at the ground nervously. "Mother? Um...can I go with Dragon? And join the Children of Rot?" He looked up at the reptile, a strike of fear flashing in his eyes. "If that's okay with you, of course."

"I'm screaming submission"
I don't know if I am dying or living

tags: @Dragon
notes:

Dragon blinked dark eyes in surprise at the young one's brash question. Startled laughter--delighted, amused--escaped him. "That is a rather large leap to make, Serek. Usually, one asks first," he said, but he was not laughing at him--not exactly. Dragon as a new hatchling had been anything but calmly rational. "I presume the Seer is your mother. I do not aim to take your children from you," Dragon added toward Giggle, more serious now.

"And it is a long way to Cetus. To our home. I am, however, willing to show him where we are, and what we know. I do not suppose," he added, after a moment's thoughtful peering at Serek, "that you share any of the Bonecaster's talent? If it is truth, as she speaks, it could be useful to us. But any mind that seeks the truth, and survival, is."

He looked back to Giggle, and felt a strange sort of sudden misgiving. She was staring at him--coldly, blankly, and in a way that struck him at once as not... right. He wondered abruptly if she perhaps had far more power than she had initially let on. Some sort of magic that he could not grasp. Or was she merely looking at Serek's future, now, peering into the mists to see what might happen if he did go with them?

Well, mad visions and bones be damned. Of course we would have always persevered past a death or two. And of course I will take in anyone who seeks survival--and the secrets of the caves.

Giggle stared for a long while, cold malice licking at her. That is my child, you speak of taking, her mind snarled, but she did not say it aloud. No; they were not hers to keep. They were their own people.

She slipped a dark gaze down to the bones, searching them in silence for any sign of Serek's future. No-... She needed a fresh bone, for this. Down she went, loping to her bone pit, searching briefly and with a glance at her "son," risen from these very bones. She lifted a thick one, one smooth and tinted red, and carried it up, tossing it to clatter among the rest and searching, in its echoes, for a sign.

And it was there.

She saw... nothing, at first: the bones resisted movement. He was--for now--in stasis. This spoke clearly to her; there was little more he could learn just yet. Not from her. The others might choose to learn from the bones, but he had a different destiny laid out before him.

She saw, too, a link to the other bones. Family, and home--but not these, Children, no. A link Serek would always bear to Giggle, to Vinea, to Skeena; to Canis. To the bones, to the secrets that they held. To true family. She pondered over this for a time, even as she saw the bone at last break free, clattering away from the rest--a future lonely and apart. He would not last, with them. But he could learn from them, for awhile.

Aloud, all that she said was, "You will always have a place to return home to here, Serek." And, after a glance to him--"Go and learn what you can."

The hyena then shifted her gaze, inscrutable, to the alligator--and it seemed hostile, both hot and cold swirling in anger and grief all together. She had known her children might grow and leave-... but not this soon. To him, all she said was, "Keep him alive. If he dies in your care, Dragon, I will hunt you and kill you."

Her voice and words were calm and cold, and she meant every one of them.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Serek

Serek felt uncertainty and embarrassment flash in his pelt at Dragon's laughter, but, this time, he was determined not to show it. He held his head up and stared at the reptile, waiting for his answer, but internally falling to pieces. He didn't want him, did he? No, not at all. He was being stupid.

But then, he accepted. He said yes. Serek released a breath he realized he had been holding and then smiled widely at Dragon. "Thank you, thank you! I won't disappoint you, I promise!"

He turned to Mother and realized that she wasn't standing beside him anymore, but searching through the bones. He took a step back, silent, as she cast the bones once again. He froze as she considered them carefully, anxious for her reaction. He loved Mother, he did, and it hurt to leave her now. But he wanted to go and he hoped that she would understand that he wanted to learn.

Finally, she turned and gave her blessing. He jumped forward and pressed his muzzle into her gore-matted coat. "I love you, Mother, and I love Siblings Skeena and Vinea too. Can you say goodbye to them for me? I will come home, I promise. I'll never forget the Bones."

He turned to Dragon, suddenly realizing that perhaps this wasn't what the Children of Rot did. "I-I can come home sometime, right? Just to visit?"

"I'm screaming submission"
I don't know if I am dying or living

tags: @Dragon
notes:

Dragon snorted.

"We do not keep our Children prisoner!" he near-bellowed, both amused and simply... loud. "You may go where you wish, but there are things I would ask you to hear before you choose where to travel. Return home if it suits you," he added indifferently.

Dragon turned, hauling himself a bit away from the pit, clearly preparing to depart. "I thank you for your time, Bonecaster, and in return I will teach your young one what I know, and look after him as if he were my own. You will find no need to hunt me." His thickly-ridged tail carved an s-path behind him as he hauled himself a few limping steps forward.

"I would tell you to keep up with me as we travel but I am slow!" he continued, with equal loud cheer. He crawled a bit away, then waited for the mother and child to say any last words that needed to be exchanged--having given them room enough for at least moderate privacy.

Giggle gave a soft, uneasy chitter, nervous and uncertain. This was so-... sudden. She'd had no time to prepare; no real closure. If her son never came back-...

With a sharp bark she hopped down, trotting over to the bone pit. "Serek. Come here." Her words were calm, but clipped, insistent. It was a mother's demand, and she waited for him to approach, lowering her voice.

"I will say goodbye to them for you. Now listen. There is little time for me to explain all that I wished to, so that you understood what I understand," she began with furrowed brow. Her dark eyes slipped from him to the bones, and she nodded toward them. "You, and your siblings--Vinea, Skeena--you were of this bone pit, once. Bones among the rest, lying dead, a small gem in each of you. I chose you, and I gave you life."

Just do not ask how, because I still do not understand it myself.

Giggle fell silent for a beat, brow furrowed even more deeply as she tried to think of how to word this. At last she began again, slowly, choosing every word with care. It might not come out wholly sane--but she wanted it as clear as she could make it, rather than her normal ramble. "...The living die, and they become bones. And from bones, and stones, we are again born. There is no wall to separate us--only a lack of flesh to speak. At times we carry memories of a life not our own. At times, we hear a whisper from beyond the not-wall. A whisper from what we came from, and where we will go. But it needn't be the bones." Giggle turned to Serek, quietly intent. "Truth, reality, future--it runs through all things, Serek. You come from bones--but you may find your truths--all truths--in the mushrooms, or the stone walls, or in the grass or the whispers no others can hear in the air. The world is open to you. You must only listen," she insisted, with a perhaps frightening intensity as she stared closely at her little one. Perhaps it would seem mad; but it was the most important lesson she could give her child, her child who was departing her so suddenly.

"Remember always that all things are one--there is but one reality. Its patterns will show anywhere--if you know how to look for them. And in that, remember--you are never alone. You are a part of the pattern, a part of all of this. You are never alone."

Slowly, the hyena lowered herself to her haunches, refusing to show any grief. Serek needed strength from her, now, a confident mother giving him knowledge before he left--not someone looking to him for courage and reassurance. Giggle reached over to give her son a gentle nuzzle, watching him closely--ensuring he was all right.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Serek