Wilder found the rat fairly quickly, but didn't approach. Not this time. This time, she tried to figure out what it was doing. It was digging around, scavenging for something, and she took a pause from her regularly scheduled program of dumbass to actually think about what it wanted. Giggle had said that the magic would disperse if they either destroyed it or gave it a gift. Well, she really wasn't into destroying it, but perhaps she could do the gift thing.

It had tried to grab her gemstone off of her face. Perhaps that what it wanted. A gemstone of some sort. Not hers, of course, she didn't feel like dying, but maybe if she created one from scratch.

She quickly thought of what she should make and decided to replicate her own stone - not exactly, but when she touched her paw to the ground to summon the magic, a chunk of polished rhodonite appeared in front of her. She leaned over to pick it up in her mouth and tossed it forward gently, taking a small step away to give the skeleton its space, if this is what it wanted.

Azrael rumbled dismissively. "Is okay. Sometimes I forget to be more then beast. Still working on that. I eat bones," he added. "But not old bones. Living bones are too old to eat." In fact, almost all of the bones found in Canis were either too old and dry or too charred and destroyed to be really edible. He could eat them, probably, but it hurt his mouth to eat them and his stomach got upset.

They were gathered around where the kitten had disappeared into the stone and Azrael frowned. It was his fault that it had run away at all and he wanted to help. At the same time, he'd tried his one big move and, upon it failing, he might as well leave it up to the others to figure out this mystery.

Wanna be more then beast. That was the thought that fueled him forward, carefully picking off the plants wrapped around his limbs and stepping forward, crouching before the crack that the cat had disappeared into. He focused his magic on one of his arms and squeezed it into the tunnel, the fur and skin beginning to glow, strongest on the eye on his palm that he used to see what was happening, giving some light to the darkness. "She is giving it stone gift," he announced to the gathered gembound.

A quiet clatter as the gemstone tumbled over the rock.

The skeleton had drawn forward, looking over the glowing fungus--lit, now, more brightly by Azrael's glow. Now, tiny, clawed, fleshless paws clasped around the pink glitter of the jewel.

For a moment, the bone rocked upright onto their haunches, the empty-eyed skull seeming to stare--entranced--at the gemstone. And then, the undead rat's tiny paws shoved the gemstone into its jaws--where it immediately fell back out, with no cheeks to keep it stuffed there. But the bones didn't seem to mind.

Instead, they fell apart.

The phosphorescent light, the magic that had animated it, rushed out in a faintly-tangible flow: imparting knowledge, new magic, to those present.

The bones, however, now lay lifeless.

_________

The bones will no longer respond. Characters may exit this thread at their leisure, or investigate further; each character will also be imbued with their player's choice of Halloween-specific spell: Vampire Gaze, Jack o' Spawn, or Witch Cackle. These can be claimed in the Update Me thread.

@Zevruu @Azrael

Giggle glanced back at the rest. None were really... responding. Or even... moving. Except Oliver--and she didn't know that one. He seemed kind, though, and she didn't want to leave him alone with the rest. Maybe she should've been more worried about Wilder--a fellow Bonebound--but she'd never liked cats.

"Come," she said, shortly. "You and I--we will go and speak to the bones, and look into this further."

With that she turned and paced away, ignoring the rest; let them deal with this how they pleased. The action, it seemed, was over--for now.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

Well-... the bones were inactive, at least.

He could feel a tickled tangle of magicka somewhere within him, though he didn't know quite what it meant. But the situation seemed resolved, and the others had gone silent. So he obeyed the hyena--going with her, curious as to what she had in mind.

Because he as hell sure didn't know what was happening.

Quietly he slinked away, offering a final nod of farewell back at the others who had gathered, who they now left behind.
{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

exit Oliver

When the rat bones picked up the little gemstone, the whole thing suddenly just...fell apart. Wilder blinked with surprise and flinched as magicka rolled over her for a moment, but then she relaxed - obviously that's what it had wanted, and now it was over.

She turned and crawled back out of the cave, although Oliver and Giggle had already departed. She looked around with faint surprise at their sudden disappearance. "Well, uh," she said to the demon and to Zevruu, "they stopped moving. It's over, I guess." She gave them both a wide smile before trotting off toward her home.

*exit

Azrael stood up as the kitten came trotting out of the cave, his great nose twitching curiously, as if it could scent magic, but that itching he'd felt in his chest was probably the bones collapsing and its magicka dispersing. Weird.

"Okay. It is good then." he huffed and leaned forward again, trying to see into the little nook, if there was anything else there, but...there was not. Only the little gemstone the cat had made and the collapsed bones.

Grunting, he stood again and set off into Canis. He didn't need to stick around anymore.

*exit