Wilder picked her way through Canis, her tail waving merrily behind her. She was in a fantastic mood. Squick was back in her stomach, safe and sound and warm, probably eating her latest meal she had caught a few hours ago - she had gotten down an extra mouse just for her little friend. She would have still been happy if it'd stayed with Pride, since then it'd have been happier then with her, but it seemed that it's best course was with her. And she couldn't help but admit that she appreciated the company, even if it was a tiny worm in the middle of her stomach.

Her moods seemed to often effect her magic, however strange it was - it did so now, manifesting in a small glow of pink around her body as she stepped through the bones. Every so often she would stop to observe some of the bones, admiring their shape or their state of destruction, or even some that had gems still implanted within them. This room was very fascinating - no wonder the Bonebound liked to have their home here.

@Squick

Squick was awake; it had been awake for a while, since it and the others had given life to the stone of the moth. It was indeed snacking on the extra food that Wilder had caught for it, and although the extra meal had made her belly a little more cramped, it was appreciative; its wrinkled body plumper than it had ever been.

As it snacked, vacuuming up half-digested meat, its mind was elsewhere. What it had seen played out again and again in its mind, the moth-guardian standing so big and proud and new. The gem that Squick itself had helped to reawaken. It could see the glimmering object in it's mind's eye, and the parasite couldn't help but wonder if it was the only one.

...Miss Wilder? it reached out after a while, shyly. ...Are you there? The question was a little redundant; of course she was there. But Squick couldn't be certain if the message had gone through.

It paused. I've been thinking, Miss Wilder... Are there more gems out there? Like the one the moth came out of?

---

When I think.

@Wilder

Wilder paused when the words passed through her head, as if Squick had whispered them directly into her mind. She purred in confirmation. Of course she was there! The question, however, sparked Wilder's own curiosity. Other gems? Ones that weren't attached to living creatures? Sure, she had come across a very large number of gemstones while wandering through Canis but it hadn't occured to her that they could be revived like they had with the moth. She also didn't realize that they could be revived by only one creature. She reached back with her words to answer Squick's question.

I think so. I've seen a lot of gems around and I suppose they could be revived too. I didn't think about it before. She glanced around. How many gems littered across the floor of this cave had a dormant creature sleeping within, waiting for life to bring it back, for someone to appear and give it the energy needed to be reborn? As Aure had? Would you like me to find one?

@Squick

Squick perked as Wilder responded, feeling her purrs reverberating through her stomach and causing its body to softly tremble, a strange yet comforting feeling. The parasite had come to realize that it signified she was happy, and it enjoyed the sensation as it might enjoy being stroked.

You have? it asked excitedly. Its eagerness mounted as she continued. Oh, yes please, Miss Wilder! We should look for some together!

---

When I think.

@Wilder

Wilder purred in confirmation again and began walking through the bones again, digging around every so often so that she could look for a gemstone attached to a bone, preferably, of course, one with life in it. There were a lot of bones nearby to choose from and she was sure that some of them still had chunks of gems attached, waiting to be brought to life again.

There were a lot of bones to choose from and she eventually came upon a small hill of nothing but old broken and burned bones. She smiled. This would be a good place to find one!

She immediately sprang forward and began digging through the pile, pulling out pieces of bones and full bones and everything in between. Skulls, legs, ribs, spines, everything. Bones clattered around her as she dug through but she didn't mind. She was too focused on searching for a little gemstone for Squick.

Picking through the bones, Wilder finds a glimmering Pupil-level (+2) red-orange Fire Opal in the shape of a talon. It once belonged to a Sumatra chicken.

Something redish orange caught her eye and she immediately grabbed for it, picking out the little claw-shaped gem. She held it in her mouth and pulled herself back, setting it on the ground and observing the pretty glimmer. It looked really nice.

She tried to reach back for Squick, but, as she did, she felt pain smash into her head very suddenly. She groaned and shook out her head as the headache descended and she retracted her magic back. That was a mistake.

It was really annoying how sometimes her magic had to fail her. She needed to reach back and let Squick know about her discovery of the gemstone. She was a little more careful as she touched Squick's mind, finding that she could do it this time. "Squick-friend, I found one! It looks like a bird talon. It's a pretty orange one!"

@Squick

Squick waited for a while, and when it felt the motions, but didn't hear Wilder's voice, it settled into a gentle rythmn of munching away once again. When she did finally reach out for it, though, Squick squelched with excitement and suddenly food was no longer important.

Ooohhh! Can I see it? Are there more? Let's find more, Miss Wilder! I bet there'll be even prettier ones! it sent, rapidly growing more excited as it considered what else was out there and wondered just what those gems might contain. Let's make a whole army of them, Miss Wilder! Let's find all the pretty gems! Then we can make them all into Hosts like we did with the moth!

---

When I think.

@Wilder