Bones wandered with a femur bone in his mouth, eyeing up the walls of Canis. He knew what he wanted to do today, he wanted to paint until his legs were so filthy he'd have to spend hours upon hours cleaning himself. There was a problem with this plan- painting was certainly a thing to do; but what would he paint?

The dog wanted to start off with his canvas - a blank wall. He preferred to work near Giggle's den; so it wouldn't be a particularly long walk for him, and in the off-chance the hyena was in a talkative mood, he could have a short conversation with his adoptive mother. He loved talking with Giggle.

Whenever his legs would feel better, he'd make sure to head nearby tunnel K so he could talk to Kerberos while he painted. Painting didn't seem to be something the literal hell hound was into-- it was always fast-paced games like running that he did with Kerb. Painting was something more private to him, something he didn't really talk about outside of actually doing it. Perhaps he'd have to learn to talk more about it now that his legs were busted and he couldn't play as good as he used to.

His teeth tightened around the femur, briefly. He hoped Kerberos wouldn't get bored if he were to try talk while painting. He couldn't manage a full conversation while working; the results would be botched at best if he were distracted for too long. He decided, while trying to think of something to paint, he'd also try think of interesting things to say to Kerberos later.

He found a wall, cracked but otherwise smooth. The dog had stared at it for a while, now, considering and trying to figure out if this particular part of the wall was the right part of the wall for whatever he was going to paint - which, as it happened, he hadn't figured out yet.

That didn't matter, though. The african wild dog placed the bone down by the wall and limped back off to Giggle's den to collect a rat which he had received some time earlier, though not too long ago. The hyena didn't ever seem particularly pleased about him 'wasting food,' as she saw it, but the blood from the rat would surely last longer and give visitors more of an impression than him swallowing a rat would.

The dog shook his head somewhat as he padded out of the hyena's den. Although Giggle hated him using blood; she was oddly supportive of his paintings. He appreciated it, perhaps more than she'd ever know - though Giggle was really smart. Perhaps she did have some sort of an idea.

Though all this thinking had distracted Bones from what he was supposed to do and as he found himself back at his chosen canvas, he blinked and placed the rat down by the femur and lowered himself onto his haunches, staring up at the wall.

"Damnit," he murmured.

Something was distracting Bones from thinking right. He rolled onto his left side, and then he rolled (with a wince) onto his back and then onto his right side. He barked and he whimpered and he flailed his front legs around for ideas, but nothing came to mind.

He rolled back onto his belly with his head against the cool stone ground, staring accusingly at the rat and his femur bone. Usually, he'd abandon post and sprint around the circut, wide-eyed until he could think of what to do, but he was unfortunate enough to no longer have the pleasure to do that.

He could try, of course - in fact he tried before. He tried many times. And every single time ended in failure. Bones knew when to give up and he was certain that he should give up just trying to run in general. He was upset about this at first, but the wounds have healed since then.

He was okay with not being able to run anymore. He was still Bones.

Giggle had told him Bones wasn't the pup that would run around until he lost his footing. He wasn't the pup that would hunt for hours on end to fill the black hole that was Kerberos' belly. Bones was someone who could paint and make friends with giant demon dogs that would have eaten him otherwise.

He was okay with that, he supposed.

He had an idea!

Gembounds like Giggle hadn't even left Canis since they hatched, but Bones was one of the people who had, and they explored. He knew what he wanted to do now; something that people could refer to if they were lost, to know where they were and where to go to get some place else.

Bones was of course thinking of a map - however such a thing had never touched the painted dog's ears before, and he was left to stare at the wall with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, wide-eyed as he tried to think of how to get his idea across.

Eventually, the dog leaned down to bite the rat's gut open so that the entrails and blood spewed out, and he dipped his paws into the gore. With a wince, he peered at his black and red paws for a moment before he turned to the wall again, carefully easing himself up onto his hind legs with his fore-paws on the wall.

Yet he still wasn't sure. He'd already stained the wall, his canvas, and he was still not sure. What he was sure of, however, was that Canis was not in the center of the world- so what was?

Polaris.

He was fairly sure Polaris was the center of everything ever. Polaris was where he'd usually run to in his dreams and nightmares, and Polaris was where he felt the best. So.. where was Canis, in relation to Polaris?

Bones squinted a little as he drew a rough circle to indicate Polaris. He decided to mark it with a little line to indicate the Spire and he nodded to himself. Now.. how many tunnels came out of Polaris? There was I, which lead to Orion and Eridanus - he could start there. Carefully his paws swept across the wall and he split it off into two parts. He drew a circle at the end of one - Orion, and put rough figure of the throne in it, then drew Eridanus with a mushroom in it.

He nodded again, drawing a line out of Orion and another circle in it. Canis. This one had a bone inside it. He stepped back to admire his work.

Well. It was choppy and dripping down the wall - but it'd do! His tail was frantically thrashing back and forth. Orion, the star-room, had another tunnel coming out of it but he didn't know what was at the end of it. Regardless, he drew a second tunnel coming out of Orion - he could ask about it later.

Now Bones was just confused. Somewhere down the line, he messed up. Polaris now had six tunnels coming out of it and cetus appeared to be simply floating off elsewhere, away from everything else. The african wild dog decided he needed help - but who to ask?
Giggle was asleep; nor has she been outside of Canis.
Kerberos might be helpful-- no, he's asleep.
The Lorekeeper? Maybe. In fact, yes, she had mentioned she explored before, at some point.

As the painted dog lifted himself to his paws and turned around to head over to the west wall, something dawned upon Bones that made him stop and turn back around to go back to thinking of someone else. The Lorekeeper was a girl. And girls were scary - there was no way Bones was going to go to a girl by himself, that was just disgusting.

Grandpa Azazel would probably do instead. He was the oldest (probably) so he (probably) has been exploring for a while, and therefore he (probably) could help him out. And so the little dog got up to his shaking paws once more and began hobbling around Canis, barking out quietly: "Grandpa?"

He wasn't sure where an old bird would rest; but he decided to check Giggle's bone pile out first, just in case he was hanging around there.

@Azazel

The Bone King had planned on being around Canis more often, so he had decided he would fly around on patrol. It had been quite some time before the ragtag band of misfits called the Merrymen had declared war on the Bonebound. Sometimes, Azazel wondered if they were even planning on it still.

Today was another day of patrol, eyes blinking as they surveyed the room of bones below. He wasn't all that concerned, really. Kerberos was an excellent guard to the gates of hell... or at least to the entrance of Tunnel K. The only thing he really needed to worry about was Gembound hatching in the room. First and foremost, it seemed there was some odor in the caves. One that even Azazel could smell... and his sense of smell was god-awful. Blood? For a moment, he was extremely concerned.

With a few beats of his wings, he had turned course towards the scent, and found a special little painted dog sitting alone, working furiously on stone. He was painting with blood. It seemed odd to The Bone King, but there wasn't a lack of oddities in the Bonebound. Azazel himself was an oddity. Descending to earth and landing with a small click of talons, the bird waddled closer and tilted his bare head curiously, carmine eyes blinking. "What are you doing, Bones?"

Bones hadn't even managed to get up yet when Azazel decided to land next to him. The dog's ears perked up and he looked down, forepaws coated in blood. "I'm painting," he said. "But I messed it up."

A bloodied paw lifted to guesture at the wall, with it's, quite frankly, not-so-map map. "I haven't been everywhere yet. I know there's a tunnel here--" a paw planted on tunnel J. "But I've never been in it. And I know there's lots of tunnels in Polaris, but I haven't seen them-- except for this one-" the paw planted on tunnel N. "Which goes to water-place."

The wild dog sighed, peering at his map. "I wish I travelled more-- why are you wearing a skull on your face?" Bones finally stopped babbling as he planted his paw down and peered at the bearded vulture. He was a mess; other than the blood on his paws. Most of the fur on his back was burnt away and the dog looked tired from a lack of sleep.

Either way, the painted dog stared at his 'grandfather,' waiting quietly for a reply, ears flickering quietly. At length, he scooted away - either trying to get some distance from the bird or making way for him to peer at the map, and he glanced at the dead rat on the ground, the blood pooled around it mostly dry by now.

@Azazel

The painted dog gazed at him, speaking then pointing to the wall. He hobbled towards it and smiled beneath his skull, turning back to Bones. "I don't think you messed it up, Bones." Then he took a moment to scrutinize it while the canine pointed at various tunnels he had drawn. Tunnel J. That lead to Monoceros, Azazel was sure. "That tunnel leads to Monoceros. The room of winds, and the home of the Merrymen." The last few words were spoken with a little bit of venom. Azazel didn't know what the Bonebound had done to provoke their group. All he could figure out was perhaps that the mongoose wished to plunder their cave. Clicking his beak quietly, he shook his head and watched a bloodied paw fall on the doodle he had called Tunnel O, and he smiled again and looked at the painted dog reassuringly. "Yeah, Tunnel O leads to water-place... Pisces. That's where Maji Walezi lives."

For a moment, he thought about it and raised a wing as if he were stroking his beard, then proclaimed, "I can help you with your map if yo-- oh?" As the boy cut in with his wishes, and he opened his mouth once again to talk, but there was a question. Why did he wear a skull on his face? That was a tough one. He lifted his own foot and grasped at it with his talons, pulling it off his crown for a moment to peer at it. "Well, Bones, first of all... If you ever want to explore the caves and make a map, I'd be more than happy to come along. And second, I'm not sure why I wear this skull on my head." That was a pretty good question. But he knew that Bones probably wouldn't want to listen to him ramble on and on about his helm, so he simply replaced it upon his crown and ruffled his feathers.

"I'm going to continue my patrol, Bones." He didn't really want to leave the boy hanging, but he felt a nagging sense of 'Perhaps Bones would like to do things.' So he flapped his wings until he maintained an even hover, then smiled and clicked his beak. "See you!" And he was gone!

[ exit bc april told me to tell aza to gtfo lol ]

@Bones

Grandpa Azazel had only been half-helpful. Once the vulture flew away, Bones turned to stare at what the bird had called a 'map' with a tilted head and after some consideration he decided to attempt the 'map' later when his legs worked and he could explore for himself a little more.

He picked up his femur bone and limped off to find another blank canvas. This time he decided to travel a little further, closer to tunnel K - though to his disappointment Kerberos wasn't around - he was more likely out hunting or taking a nap some place else. Regardless, the painted dog set his bone down next to an orb of light and peered up at the wall, nodding more to himself as he turned to limp back to Giggle's den in search of a fresh rat to work with.

This time, while he was walking, he actually knew what he wanted to draw. Pisces had been one of his favourite places he saw while he was out exploring and even though he was only briefly in there, it left quite the impression on the little pup. He already had an image in his mind of the waterfall tumbling into the water below and the damp rock by the water. It was pretty; even in the dark scarlet he painted in.