River listened to Giggle talk as they started walking again. Though the cub was a new gembound and she had a place to call home, she wondered if she would find other gembounds here or not. The spotted girl needed friends as well as a mother or father figure. The hyena gembound was like a mother figure for the little girl which was quite good to have met her. Are there others here or nearby or are we the only two? she said to herself. Wondering about it, River decided to ask her new friend and mother figure. "Um...Giggle...are there other gembounds here or nearby or are we the only two. I mean I dont mind who lives here with us. I am just curious about this place." she said as they came to a stop where big boulders with holes where water and sand had eaten away at them. Giggle explained to River on how to catch a rat and that theycould bite but that didnt frighten the girl. The big gembound asked if the girl had magic. The only thing River had known that she had was Red Sense. "Yes I think I have a spell called Red Sense." she said.

Giggle peered at the cub curiously. She knew most had magic, but she didn't think she'd ever heard of anyone who had a name for it. Still, as long as it didn't hurt her or the cub, perhaps now was a time to test it out. No reason to delay.

"All right. Well, do you know what it does? Perhaps you can test it on the rats, here, and see."

She nodded toward the boulders, adjusting herself in a sitting position to wait. The rats were hiding beneath the rocks, tunneled into the holes; their smell was obvious. As she'd warned, they could bite, and bite badly; the question was, what would River's magic do to them?

"It's okay if you can't manage right away. My magic still falters, from time to time," she added, her tone both reassuring and encouraging. "Why don't you give it a shot?"

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@River