Backdated to May 2nd, the day after Noctua's opening, with permission.

Omen had turned back shortly after nightfall.

Giggle wasn't sure why, at first. The familiar's distress had grown: not urgent, not panicked, but a dislike of this place. She'd pressed ahead, wary, expecting to find some danger, and always cautious to scuff her paws or take note of landmarks now and then so that she could find her way back home.

Now she understood.

She'd passed over a soft-grassed meadow, plodded through several creeks swollen with spring melt, and picked her way through a forest. About two miles in, she'd tackled a steep slope thick with trees. She stood now on a crest, a hill that looked out, crumbled to sheer dirt on its far side--but she felt she could go no further.

It was her magic.

It was fading.

She couldn't do... anything with it, really. She felt exhaustion creeping in; she knew that she would need to turn back soon, knew it on an instinctive level that bordered just shy of urgent. If I even sleep here, I might die. Not chrysalize, but die. It was solemn knowledge, that there was a limit even to this new freedom, though of course she was grateful to have seen--to have truly seen--the sky.

So the old hyena stood, for a time. She intended to look out, to gaze across the miles of forest she knew she couldn't explore. (It didn't matter. She had dreamt it, and home still lay behind her.) She'd place these starlit fields of leaves into her memory, and then she'd go back to her cave of bones, content. She would sleep, and she would dream of all the visions she had seen--things that still made little sense to her, that tumbled in confusing tangles through her thoughts--but she would awaken remembering the sky.

Hoping that she understood the vague sense of calling, the Visitor been waiting for the hyena for quite some time, sat back on a folding camping chair with one leg up over the other, ankle on knee; it was hiding among the trees like some kind of novice stalker. It was comfortable in the woods and thought it had picked a pretty good spot to watch the hillside, having shown her that much in her dream—until, finally, her painted fur and rattling adornments of bones glimmered beneath the planet-light. The Visitor did not immediately greet her, instead choosing to observe her for some time.

Ah, Giggle. Poor ole' Giggle. How much had she truly been through these last ten years? Shaking its head, the Visitor quietly reflected on the good and bad times, and the even worse times—man, she'd really been through the wringer! It was quietly munching on gummy worms when it accidentally knocked its canned drink from the flimsy camping chair cup holder—"ah- SHIT!" it whispered loudly—and a clattering of fumbles followed: the drink can clinking to the ground, the shuffle of robes, the crinkling of its multiple bags of snacks spilling to the ground... ugh!

Well, the time for chilling was over, it seemed.

Red eyes caught Giggle from the treeline as the Visitor waved her way. Maybe it had been pushing its time anyway; the hyena would need to return to the caves soon, but she had been through worse than just magic sickness. It scooped up a staff by its feet, hid it behind its back, and ambled out to greet her.

"Yooo Giggle," it said, its voice on the edge of masculine and feminine, like it had no true weight one way or the other. "Gotcha somethin'!" it exclaimed quietly, like it was going to present her a gift between old friends.

It brought the staff from behind its back and held it horizontally across upturned palms as it kneeled in the grass to bring itself eye-level with her. The staff was darkened ash wood and tall enough for a man, with subtle streaks of petrified opal running through its smoothed gnarled bark. At its end, the wood arched into a crescent shape and a wedge of rainbow moonstone sat within the crescent. Poking from the backside of the wedge were various tines of antlers and horns that had been melded on seamlessly, from which hung dried lavender and ivy and other sorts of plants, black and grey ribbons, and miscellaneous small bones and teeth (most of which were lamb bones). The base of the crescent was wrapped in even more ribbon, strands of which fluttered freely at varying lengths. It was a design that could easily be added to or adjusted.

"Check this out," the Visitor said as it pointed to the crescent-shaped rainbow moonstone that shimmered with blue and hints of gold in the starlight. "This staff is imbued with magic by the great enchanter, Tallulah." It wasn't really—probably—but there was a great enchanter named Tallulah. Somewhere. Sometime. Who died to cancer. (Fuck cancer!) The Visitor eyed a piece of elk antler that had been merged at the back of the crescent and brushed it gently, trailing its finger down a piece of starry blue ribbon where two canines were tied and dangling—one was noticeably smaller than the other, as if each from an adult lion and young wolf respectively.

"Arcane." It broke from its thoughts and tapped the moonstone as if the significance should be immediately obvious. "It's just enough magic for you, and the Halfteeth* life sleeping inside is waiting for you," explained the Visitor as its glowing eyes lifted to meet her own. "When you return to your home in Canis, give a piece of your stone in a space large enough to hold a chrysalis," it said with a wink (that is, one glowy eye twinkling off for a moment) and then nodded its head. "Pretty cool, right?" Of course it was. "Anyway, it's thanks, to you, for putting up with so much of our shit. Thank you."

* gm disclaimer: not actually a true halfteeth but resembles the bipedal half-transformation between animal and person - or aka werehyena

@Giggle

The distant clatter jarred her from any introspection. It wasn't even that it was loud; she'd just thought she was alone, and the sudden cascade of subtle noises startled her. She jerked, leaping to one side, the fur along her neck and back on end. A cackling whoop escaped her--not a sound she made often, but still, the distinct noise of a very alarmed hyena.

But as she braced, ears pricked and eyes wide, she saw... someone waving. She hesitated, then headed toward it, wary.

It knew her name. This stranger with the skull face--which didn't frighten her; she lived among the bones, but she didn't know th--yes she did. Yes, she did. Her eyes widened further, jaw dropping a little, and her wariness was replaced with amazement. "You!" she exclaimed, surprised, and shook her head a little as if to clear a stray thought. Was that a vision, or--no. No, that one was real. It felt like so long ago, now. And it was, but... it felt like centuries, back beyond all that war and death--she'd almost not recognized the Visitor. "You're the one-" she started to say. To thank them, for having brought her to the Wishing place. The feathers, the visions in that first cave--she still didn't know what that had all been about. But she understood what had come next.

She knew she'd gotten Aza'zel back.

And... now it had another gift, for her-? The Visitor had spoken; Giggle hadn't really gotten her words out. She tried again. "Thank you, for--last time we met." She wanted to say more--so much more. To explain. But maybe... they knew. She paid polite and close attention to what they said now: the staff, the name (one she settled firmly in her memory). 'Tallulah.' Arcane-? Moonstone-! What-... Halfteeth--life in it? She shook her head a second time, not to indicate she didn't understand, but as if she'd gotten an ant in her fur. It was faint confusion as she tried to make sense of this, but Giggle understood instinctively that she wouldn't understand, not until she did as it asked.

Bring the beautiful staff home. Give it a piece of stone. Why? That faint, suspicious part of her--birthed and grown through terrors--wondered. And what... Whose shit?

Her maw parted to speak, and she hesitated, taking a breath to find her words. Then she spoke earnestly, peering up at The Visitor's face. (She hadn't missed the wink. She just didn't know quite what it meant.) "I--will. I owe you," she said, as if reassuring herself just as much--that even if she didn't know what was happening, she owed the Visitor a favor.

As if this wasn't a second favor altogether.

"I mean--thank you. I think?" She barked a laugh, then. "It's beautiful. I don't know-" She started to say she didn't know what any of this meant. But that was obvious, wasn't it? It had to know that. And it felt almost... unimportant, now.

She reconsidered.

She wanted to know. But it almost felt like the Giggle of a few cycles ago, the Giggle who would have demanded the knowledge before acting, well... this Giggle was ten long strikes of lightning from that Giggle. One so far separated that she understood through the breadth of all the time she'd seen that only the now was the important moment.

And this moment--was it magic?

"...Yes. Thank you. Is there... anything I can get for you in return? Or do for you?" she asked, hesitating. She wasn't sure what they might like... a meal from Nedies? A gemstone of their own, from somewhere in the caves? A baubled bone, perhaps..?

Giggle was more thankful than the Visitor had anticipated—if it had an eyebrow to raise, it would raise one. But despite everything she had been through, the hyena had come out on top and at this point, the Visitor was truly rooting for her.

"Naaaaah," the leonine-skull shook side-to-side briskly as it rattled out the sound. A baubled item or something would have been cool, but it didn't want to risk her trying her magic this far from the reservoir, and the thought didn't occur to it until she had asked. Pushing up from its kneeling position, the Visitor resisted the urge to reach out and pet her. Actually...

Its hands balled at its sides as it looked to her with glowing red eyes, peering down at her from over its angular cheek bones with its jaw pointed slightly upward.

"May I... pat your head?" it asked in a near-whisper, almost embarrassed by the question. "You absolutely can say no." Consent was paramount, of course.

@Giggle

Giggle stared up at The Visitor for a very long moment, a few things whipping through her mind.

Her gemstone was on her head. Some part of her worried that maybe it was indeed tricking her, after all. That it might... what, rip it out of her forehead..? But then again, they'd just come out with this pretty magic staff, and they knew her, and more than that--again, she'd met the Visitor before and they'd hardly been hostile then.

The span of time she thought about it might've been just shy of awkward; maybe a split second later and the Visitor might've changed its mind. But she did speak, nodding once. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

It would probably be a little weird, but Giggle wasn't really scared of this one. So she stepped forward, dipping her head down, her ears flicking back to make space on her skull for a hand.

Her fur was a little bit coarse, and there were admittedly spores all up in there, but hey. She was a hyena, and the Visitor would get to pet her. For whatever that might be worth.

It refrained from a fist-pump even though the urge bubbled up through its arm. Instead, the Visitor removed the glove on its right hand to reveal bony fingers and quietly leaned down to gently pat Giggle's head, at first as little taps and then resting its whole palm between her ears and brushing softly; it was careful to avoid going too far forward, lest it touch her gem. Not that anything bad would have happened, but were the gems sensitive? Was it like poking someone's heart? It didn't want to find out. The idea of it sent chills through its own body and it didn't even have a gem!

Though it could not exactly feel her fur, it was a nice moment that it did not think it could afford: a moment of nothing? Relaxation? In this economy? Ridiculous!

After a few moments, it removed its hand, replaced its glove, and gave Giggle a happy thumbs-up.

"Thank you, I appreciate it..." the Visitor said cheekily; it wouldn't ask that of her again, of course, but it hadn't had any plans to ask anything of her. That opportunity was too much to pass up. She'd been through enough, right? The Visitor didn't want to overstay its welcome or burden her with any more strange requests. It had been so tired lately, so busy, so full of life and things to know and do—this was the break it needed, if only for a few minutes.

"Be seein' ya," it said, and in a gesture that might be lost on her, the Visitor pointed at Giggle with two finger-guns and snapped, making a short clicking sound with its mouth before turning sideways to her to mosey back toward its sitting area. It left the staff in her care but angled itself in a way that made it approachable if she had anything else to say or ask as it gathered its spilled snacks and drink can. It was crouched, shoving things randomly into a tote, making sure it left nothing behind. Please! Do Not Litter! Help Keep The Forests Clean!

@Giggle

To her surprise, it not only didn't bother her, it kind of felt good. Maybe she wouldn't admit that to a total stranger--or a near-total stranger--but the brush of fingers on fur was pleasant, even relaxing. (Yes, even in this economy.) Her last vestige of wariness faded as the hand withdrew, and she glanced up awkwardly--what did you even say to someone who'd just finished petting your head? Thankfully, the Visitor filled the silence with gratitude, and--finger-guns and a click. She settled that into her memory. She didn't know what it meant but she'd certainly include it in her tales to the eventual child.

Giggle hesitated. It was clear it was time for The Visitor to go; but they weren't exactly chasing her off. Still... she had a good idea that this was one of those strange encounters, those magical bizarre moments, and drawing it out would change that somehow. So she nodded faintly (half-distracted, though, by the foreign items the Visitor seemed to be lugging around--what the hell were those metal cylinders? Weapons of some kind? Tools of communication?) and half-turned to go.

On impulse, though, she paused and turned back again. Then she bent down a little, using forepaws to pin the baubled, round white stone that always hung at her neck. It was awkward, but she managed to use teeth and paws to pop it from the leather that held it, and then picked it up in her teeth and carried it over to the ongoing cleanup operation. She set it down. "I hope to see you again," she said. Because she sort of liked it, and also sort of hoped this wasn't a final farewell. "Goodbye."

Then she hesitated again, because goodbyes were awkward, before decisively turning and meandering back to the staff. That safely in-teeth, she headed back for the caves. For home.

exit Giggle, probably!