A crack appeared on the surface of a gem. It spread, more cracks appearing. Soon, the gem was merely multiple cracks joined together. And then, with little warning other than the cracks, it shattered. Pieces of the gem flew out and away from the gembound that rested inside. Quietly, a tiny creature opened his eyes and looked around. He wobbled around slowly, taking in his sights around him. His beady black eyes searched the room he was in.

Around him, many bones littered the ground. Some were twisted and broken, others burnt and chipped. He sniffed at them, his eyes holding a curious glint. He pawed at one playfully, and was soon batting it around. He batted it a measly distance away and bounded over toward it. Or, at the very least, he tried to. The small marten wasn't used to walking, and ended up slipping. He opened his mouth, intending to let out a small yelp, but no sound came out. The little marten thought nothing of it and quickly got up, batting the bone once more.

listen to me + hear my thoughts

Ashtoreth did not want to leave her father's side, but she also found herself torn between hating him and hating herself. She felt such a flurry of emotions twisting through her gut at times that she didn't know what to do other than force herself away from the avian, skulking off.

He knew by now that she wouldn't leave Canis, though she was sure he'd be watching her even if he didn't understand her. The child... No, she was too old to be called a child now... Crept among the bones, looking for anything interesting among them.

She had wanted, at first, to get back to work on her glowing hide. It was still just where she had left it, but she soon grew frustrated with her shaking fingers. Her dexterity was still dodgy since returning, and her patience was at an all time low. Instead, the fisher-vulture hybrid had given up and decided to wander the dusty ground to try and clear her head. Maybe work up an appetite and actually hold something down.

The thin, half-starved hybrid froze as she saw a bone darting in front of her. The noodle stumbled back, startled and afraid, but she didn't make a sound as her dark eyes darted to a child that looked like half of her-- small, noodley, and coarse brown fur.

Blinking, she grabbed a bone with a paw and tried to toss it up in the air, either to get his attention... Or to play with him, perhaps?

tag;; @Xin

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Well, Kerberos had wanted to hunt and get some food for Ash, all while keeping an eye on her for Aza'zel-- the poor bird was so worried about her, he was sure. Unfortunately, it was difficult to hunt in the first place and even harder when he was trying to keep at least two of his five eyes on the child. Whining as she bolted out of view for the fifth time that day, the dog skulked after her.

Ashtoreth was too out of it to even realize he was following her, and that was probably for the best. The massive dog settled down a while away from Ashtoreth, his tail twitching and knocking some bones about. Just a moment later he noticed there was another gembound with her, and his ears perked up. The tiny marten was no threat, he thought-- filled with relief that it wasn't a nasty cave rat.

The canine snorted softly and watched, waiting to make sure nothing bad happened.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

Xin continued to play for a bit before a sound alerted him. Turning, he saw another gembound toss a bone into the air. His eyes practically lit up and he bounded after it, before stumbling on a loose bone and falling. He landed on his nose. Once more, he opened his mouth, intending to whine, but nothing came out. He felt a spark of frustration, but that soon passed as he caught sight with the bone again. He quickly got up and ran up to it, knocking it around a bit, his eyes shining. These bones were certainly a lot of fun! He batted it over to the gembound that had tossed it up into the air, waiting to see what she would do with it. If playing with bones by yourself is fun, then surely playing with others would be even more fun!

@Ashtoreth

Thankfully, Goblin was once again basically alone with Kerberos, and had settled back into a light doze, laid out on his back, wrinkly belly pointed to the ceiling, purring lazily as his host ambled along. He had pretty much no idea what they were doing, moving around, but he figured that as long as no one was yelling it was fine, tail curling around a clump of fluff, front paws kneading the air. His ears twitched occasionally, following sound, but it wasn't until the sharp crack of bone rang out that he actually bothered to rise from his impromptu lazing about - and rise he did, shooting up in a corkscrew spring and climbing up Kerberos' neck to perch on his middle head, absently leaning down to groom at the scars.

Wide, pale eyes watched the action below, purr rumbling loud through the air, tail looping around one of his host's pointed ears, paws kneading the dog's thin fur. The two below - two noodles. More importantly, one was a baby. A tiny smile lifted the hairless cat's muzzle, and he settled in to watch, happily perched on his best friend.

listen to me + hear my thoughts

Ashtoreth found a smile creeping on to her face, despite herself. The tiny noodle batted the bone towards her and she pounced at it, landing square on the bone with an ease she hadn't had in years.

Her tail swished behind her, a toothy grin breaking out on her face as she twisted on to her back-- her wing ached in protest-- and kicked the bone into the sky. It flew and then landed, but she was already darting after it, and once she reached it she summoned her magic and tried to blow the bone back towards Xin.

Wind delved down under the bones along the floor and then scattered them everywhere, and Ashtoreth nodded towards the silent child, encouraging him to chase after them all.

She bounced after the bones too, though slower, instead watching the newborn noodle more than chasing her own magic about. Who is he? She wondered, ears twitching and feathers ruffling in her magical wind.

tag;; @Xin

Xin watched, his mouth curved into a grin, as the other gembound began playing as well. Once she reached the bone, other bones suddenly began flying around the room, carried by a gust of wind. His eyes widened in surprise before the glint of happiness appeared, and he leaped after them.

He pawed at the many bones in the air, jumping up and catching some of them before moving on to more. He continued playing, his eyes shining and mouth opened in a large smile. He noticed that the other had also started playing, but was mostly watching him. He leaped at another, and was just barely out of reach. He flicked an ear in frustration before trying again. He leaped, and grabbed it before batting it around and then going after another.

@Ashtoreth

listen to me + hear my thoughts

Despite the fact she was underweight, still rather exhausted, and frankly too injured to be playing around like an excited child-- but Ashtoreth couldn't help it. She didn't know who this fellow mustelid was, but he was exactly what she needed right now. She forgot, for a brief moment, everything horrible and terrible in her life, and she just let out chuffing, vocal-less wheezes as she sprinted around the fellow noodle, tail slashing the air behind her.

Ashtoreth lunged at a bone after him, then blinked as she noticed he was going for one bone after another without spending proper time with any of them. Deciding she was about to get... competitive, she left her curiosities behind her and scampered in for the sneaky steal!

The practical-adult scampered forward, ignoring a shooting pain in her wing as she did so, and clumbsily snatched a bone from the baby boy. Eyes shining with playfulness, she started to run away from him, her body wiggling as she darted in a zig zag pattern. Catch me, catch me! She thought, keeping a sharp eye on the younger kid-- and not, unfortunately, on where she was going.

Ashtoreth bumped right into a big wall of huge, fluffy white fur.

tag;; @Xin

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The massive wall of fur that Ashtoreth had bumped into, was of course Kerberos. The massive dog snickered softly at the tiny noodle, reaching down a muzzle to give her a playful lick. She huffed at him in response and he shifted, rolling on to his side to expose his soft underbelly. He lazily lifted his paw, gemstone shining where his paw pad should be, and he waved at Xin.

"Hello, you two. Having fun?" He asked them casually, enjoying the purring buzz emanating from his fur.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

@GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Still as a gargoyle on Kerberos' shoulder, it took Goblin a moment to realize that his host was moving - or, well, falling, more accurately. With a scramble, the hairless creature hopped from his perch to land on the head farthest from the slowly advancing ground. Out of breath by the time the great dog actually landed on his side, Goblin gently patted at the muzzle under his feet, raising an eyebrow as he stared down into the head's eyes. An elongated paw moved across his forehead, then moved in a tiny circle. Forgetting something? Tiny, playful reprimand done, the cat swiftly curled up, a wrinkly bean staring down at the children below.

@Xin @Kerberos @Ashtoreth