Giggle didn't leave Canis.

It was just a fact; she never left Canis. Canis was home; it had the bones, it had Bones, it had--to some extent--Kerberos, and Aza'zel. The fungus garden and her bone pit were where she belonged.

She'd only left once before, and that had been to come here, with Aza'zel. She'd certainly never left alone, never undertaken visiting a neighboring group on her own, before, but the situation was dire. She had trotted through Orion by slinking hastily along the walls, clinging to the shadows and hoping she wasn't seen. She didn't know the place, didn't have her fungal defenses set up there, and being alone in the place was, frankly, a little frightening to her. She almost felt like a lost and lonely pup again, and had found herself briefly wondering if perhaps she should get out more. Travel more, confront this fear. Was it why she stayed in Canis? Fear of the unknown, or perhaps it'd be better described as complacency?

She shook the thoughts away--now wasn't the time. The thing that had driven her out of Canis was far more important than any minor fear of strangers or strange things.

Giggle loped into Pisces, lifting her head and perking large round ears at the distant rush of the waterfall.

Well, I didn't get lost, anyway. That's something.

She lowered her head a little so she could take scent as she moved, and began to trot through the cave. She hoped she wouldn't be seen as intruding; this was Maji Walezi territory, and though she got the impression that Bonebound and Maji Walezi were allies, she still didn't want to press their hospitality, or their patience. They'd been kind enough at the threat of the Merrymen. No, she was here for something else entirely.

"Bevy?" she called out at last, when no one showed. Her voice was deep and rich, carrying through the cavern with a masculine pitch, and she paused, uncertain, to wait for any response.

Bones is still crippled, she thought, but didn't say. He's still crippled, and I am only a seer. I need your help, Bevy. Where are you...?

________________

ROLL THE BONES

((ooc -- @Bevy ; but anyone is welcome to join! It can take place before or after Fiery Pit Pt4--I prefer before but I'm easy :O ))

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

i am not a witch doctor,
and in fact, you cannot have a witch doctor,
you are either a witch or a doctor

Things were, frankly, quite stressful for the little bird as of late and it was hardly to anyone's surprise that the small, childlike Bevy was out and about today, hunting in the warrens for those nasty poisonous beetles that the pitohui bird adored. She hopped here and there, pecking and eating and having a really good, fun time with it-- the stress forgotten on the poor, exhausted body of the multi-minded avian.

When a call of her name, however, in a deep, resounding pitch, came rushing over the mossy plains, the bird bolted upright, her bright red eyes staring out towards the waterfall, wondering just who the voice belonged to. Giggle. The condensed answer came, short and sweet, and the Little one spread her wings and started to hop-fly over. "Thank you Ratchii-Big!" She peeped aloud, her clumsy half-flight showing her childish nature-- unlike the rest of her headmates, Anan seemed somewhat stuck in chickhood-- much to the delight of Enna, surely.

"Hello Giggle!" She called out as she approached, hopping and flying a bit faster when she finally made out the shape of the hyena and recognized the face from her headmate's memories a bit better. "Hi hi hi! I've never met you before!" She announced boldly, excitement in her tone-- Anan was not shy to point out their whole different mindset, especially to someone who already knew about it. "I'm Anan-Bevy!"

.Anan

Giggle froze, staring, lifting and tilting her head to eye Bevy uncertainly. The rush of faint relief she should have felt at seeing the Pitouhi bird was immediately dampened by the bird's words, and her oddly childlike nature. But Giggle was far from judgemental, and if Bevy's other personalities trusted this one enough to let her out, surely she couldn't be that bad...?

She gathered herself, clearing her throat a bit and blinking her dark eyes as she thought of how, exactly, to respond to this.

"Oh. Nice to meet you, then?" Giggle began, uncertain but polite enough. "I'd come to ask... your help," she continued. She paused just before the your, wondering how best to address the bird, but she then thought to herself well, one Bevy or four or five, it's still 'your.'

She dipped her head a bit in respect before going on.

"Formalities first: I hope you are well, and tell me if this is a bad time, or if I should not be here. I wasn't sure if I was intruding. But I've come to ask for help. It's... my son. He was crippled in an attack--and I was wondering if you could look at him. To see if there's something you can do to help?"

She tried to stay polite, professional, but she couldn't keep the slightly-cracking edge of maternal concern from entering her voice--and it was clear as she spoke just how much her worry had frayed at her nerves.

She'd never show Bones, but the idea that he was miserable from being unable to run, well... it was terrible to see, and as much as she reassured him that he was still the same dog, it hadn't stopped her from venturing out of Canis alone for the first time, and coming to Bevy for help.

Expression imploring, she fell silent, waiting to see if there was anything the multi-bird could do.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Bevy

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

i am not a witch doctor,
and in fact, you cannot have a witch doctor,
you are either a witch or a doctor

Anan chirped softly, puffing up her feathery chest as the hyena spoke to her. "Nice to meet you too!" And then, of course, she fell absolutely silent to listen to Giggle's request-- because it was probably important. Her little red eyes went wide at the news of a gembound being crippled, worry filling her. Oh, she really didn't know how to deal with this, it was especially out of her range of expertise (which was, primarily, eating bugs and playing games)... But she knew someone who could help!

"Oh no, that sounds terrible, Giggle! I'm really sorry! Let me ask my Bigs for help," she chirped, nodding firmly. This was an important little mission for the child. "Ennii-Big will know what to do," she reassured the hyena, sounding quite confident in this matter.

Once more, she was quiet, prodding around in her brain-space for Enna. Ennii, Enniiiii! Giggle says her son's hurt! Normally, the motherly figure would have been paying more attention, but it had been a time when most of the headmates were trying to take a break from all of the hard responsibilities of leadership and all. Mmm? It took a long moment, before the little bird's demeanor changed.

Her body settled down against the rock and she blinked up, bleary eyed, at the hyena. "What happened?" Giggle had a son? She processed the information slowly, but a steady feeling of comraderie drew her focus in. This was a mother asking for help. "... How was he hurt? I'll get my supplies."

@Giggle

.Anan & .Enna

"I... I'm not sure if you were there when I explained to the others how I know of Baratheon," Giggle began, standing so she could follow Bevy to wherever these supplies were.

She'd waited politely for the bird to... swap pilot, so to speak. Now, as she began to turn her mind back to Bones, the relief of knowing that Bevy would help made her stumble. Made her voice break as she replied.

Pull yourself together, hyena. You're the fucking witch doctor of the Bonebound, not some sobbing puppy.

Giggle took a deep breath, and began again, eyeing Bevy, feeling a surge of gratitude at the bird's immediate willingness to aid. "He'd nearly killed him. Burns, punctures. I thought he might not make it, for awhile--Bones, that is. My son," she clarified, looking off to see where they were going. Her voice grew quieter, as she continued.

"I'm... I'd expected, hoped, that he could get better as he healed. But he can barely stand and walk, and he can't run. It was his life, Bevy. He loved to be swift, to run with his friends, and now he can't run at all. He sits all day smearing blood on the walls to paint, miserable, and I can't stand to see it. It's not--... an emergency, not now, but... I was hoping maybe you could do something to help." She swallowed, and then made the admission she'd been loathe to make since her arrival. Since even thinking about coming here. The thing that admitted that Bevy was stronger, more powerful... that Giggle was, in the face of true danger, helpless.

"You're the only healer I know."

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Bevy

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

i am not a witch doctor,
and in fact, you cannot have a witch doctor,
you are either a witch or a doctor

Bevy hadn't been there when Giggle explained about Baratheon-- she only knew him from the trial, briefly, and he had been a small thing then. She nodded quietly, encouraging the hyena to go on as her voice broke, as though trying to hold back an overwhelming tsunami of grief. Enna flew off, taking a slow glide, back to her den on the other side of the warrens, nestled into the ridges.

It was an odd idea-- Giggle as a mother. It was all too fitting her son was named Bones, as well. It was a welcome surprise to find that Giggle had a motherly side, although the news of a poor child suffering made Enna uneasy. She would do her best to help-- but she still only had a few stumbly months of experience. There was a good chance there was nothing she could do.

They arrived at the southern wall as Giggle finished explaining, and the small bird hopped up on to a ledge, shimmied past an alcove covered in vines-- her nest-- to a more open crack in the ridged wall.

"I'll do my best," was Enna's short reply as she slipped into her supply chamber, grabbing two sturdy looking sticks and dragging them out-- they were too large for her to carry while flying, she had to have help to even get them in there, but she knew they would be useful. She grabbed one of her packages-- a carefully wrapped bundle of leaves, contained by vines, easy to hold in her beak or talons, and another bundle of vines she slipped over her neck. They would need a lot of rope-- thankfully the vines grew rather quickly in the light and water of Pisces.

"If you grab the sticks, this should be enough to start." She was still working on finding herbs that would ease pain, but admittedly she hadn't had enough time. "I'll have to see the extent of it. It sounds like something that will take a long time to heal, if it ever does. I'll have to come by and visit every few days to make sure he's healing okay..."

@Giggle

.Anan & .Enna

Giggle peered quizzically at the sticks, unsure what they could possibly be for. She knew that once she picked them up, she'd not be able to speak as long as she carried them, so she replied first.

"I'll carry them--and thank you. Even if it can't be helped, I'd feel terrible if I didn't try. If I didn't ask you to try," she amended. "The wounds themselves are healed. It's... his bones that I'm worried about. His muscles. Everything under the scarring." She worried, briefly, that Bevy might think that she was playing some sort of practical joke. The Bonebound, with her bone pile, coming to her with concern for the bones of Bones? So she quickly added the rest, the comments on his muscle, his scarring, and bent to lift the sticks in her teeth. She glanced once at Bevy, before picking them up, to speak again.

"If you want to just ride on my back, you're welcome to--especially if those things are tedious to carry." She pointed her nose to indicate Bevy's strange plant package, then lifted the two sticks delicately in her teeth, peering at the red-and-black bird and waiting for her to lead the way--or to hop on board, perhaps.

She'd wait, and then she'd go, taking the medic--and her only hope for Bones' full recover--with her.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Bevy ; exit Giggle

enna . ratchet . calypso . anan
sweet and soft . bright and cheery . critical and melodic . childlike and loud

i am not a witch doctor,
and in fact, you cannot have a witch doctor,
you are either a witch or a doctor

Bevy nodded, "Of course Giggle. It's no trouble at all." She tried to imagine the wounds, and what to do to treat them, but she knew she would probably have to get intimate with the wounds to properly understand them. At least he wasn't in danger of bleeding to death... Though bleeding was the one thing she really knew how to fix. She had an idea, however, on how to get a good look at his muscles and bones, at his injuries.

Giggle offered a ride and she considered it-- Canis was quite the distance away. She hadn't enjoyed lugging a bone all the way over to Giggle last time, so perhaps it would be best to just go along with it. She bowed her head, grabbing her little package in her beak once more, and then fluttered over to the hyena. She didn't want to get her nasty toxin in the hyena's fur, so she opted to land on the more crusty, fungi-ridden patches on the canine's back. It smelled, but she was starting to get used to the stentch of fungi, now that she was growing her own... Slowly.

She set the package down, clamping a talon over it, and let out a soft peep, "All set." And then they left, lmao.

;; bevy exit

@Giggle

.Enna