Something told him that it was time. When the walls that had held him safe could no longer support him, a shattering sound broke the silence. The feeling of intense pressure dissipated as soon as he was free, but now he felt only confusion. Other things were piled on him. He kicked his paws about, the first time he had been really able to move, and felt irregular objects slide away from the motions.

In a clattering of bone against bone and stones, the tiny hyena flopped out from the bone pile that had been hiding his chrysalis for a month. He blinked and looked around, large ears facing where ever he looked like a radar dish. He stood out from his surroundings, a dark, slight damp figure against the bleached out sea of bones.

Legs, yes, he had those. Picking himself up, and only slipping on a couple bones, he stood there, unsure of what else to do. In the chilly air, he was a little cold, still drying from his emergence. Then his eyes, which were a muted reddish color, spotted something moving farther away from him. "Hello?!" he called, suddenly wondering if they were here for him.

The hyena turned at the sound of a crack, one forelimb hanging midair, her head cocking quizzically to the side. What was that..? Was someone creeping up on her? Was this an attack?

A little baffled, she turned, lifting her head to sniff the air. She smelled nothing unusual, but now there was a clattering of bones. At this, she moved quickly off the path, her large round ears flattening back and then pricking back forward again as wariness and curiosity vied for control. She'd learned not to trust the dark, the unknown, things lurking just out of sight. She could hear movement, still--but did she risk going to it?

She remembered, then, that she didn't have to. She was working on conjuring a light, on sending it forward to more brightly-illuminate the area ahead, when a small voice called out. The phosphorescent blue-green ball of cold light bobbed obediently into the air and ahead, and she followed at a wary distance. The one who'd called "hello" was now visible: a small cub, immediately leaving Giggle feeling completely foolish for having worried.

Over she loped, the light lifting to glow overhead as she sniffed at the new cub. For a moment she thought it was Zawadi--another hyena cub, one fairly new to the caves--but no, this one was new. Young, a new smell, a new voice. Fascinated, she slowly sat down. No other hyenas for years, and now two in one cycle!? She felt warm. She felt lucky. Were they to be her family, then?

"Hello, little one," she offered--and despite the rapidity of her thoughts, only a moment had passed since his call. "I don't know how much language you understand--but I'm Giggle, and I won't hurt you. You just hatched?" She knew he might not understand it all--but exposure to more words would help him to do so, if he didn't.

Her eyes travelled to the bone pile from which he'd fallen. She'd hatched out of one of the bone fortresses, herself, and though she couldn't see the crystalline shards beneath their cascaded lump, she knew that he might very well have emerged from beneath.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Savuti

He saw something suddenly appear and hang in the air, and then come towards him. It was bluish and it glowed. His eyes widened slightly at the sight and he wondered briefly if he should run, but he didn't move. A larger figure came towards him quickly now. The features were hidden behind the glow of the orb, but when it came close enough, he realized without knowing that it was another him. Different, bigger, but it smelled like him. A voice spoke to him and he squinted his eyes a bit as he had to tilt his head up against the light to look at her. He had the sudden idea that maybe she had been waiting for him. He didn't know why but if she was like him and she had been here, then she must be related to him?

"...Momma?" he asked, voice cracking from new use. Round liquid eyes staring up at her in awe as they adjusted to the light more.

@Giggle

Giggle blinked.

It'd been awhile since anyone had called her that. Aure was grown, and had been for a few cycles--Serek, Skeena and Vinea had "left the nest," so to speak, a long time ago. And Kerberos, Bones--it'd been years, now.

"...Sure," she agreed, her time-worn heart warming. She flopped down next to the cub, offering him a friendly lick of the head. "Giggle, Momma--either is fine. Giggle," she added, nudging her own chest as best she could. "And yours? Your name?" She extended her snout out toward the pup, giving him a gentle nudge if he allowed it.

This she repeated--nosing herself, then toward him--with another "Giggle, Momma. And you..?" Her tone was warm--her roughly masculine voice patient and kind.

She wasn't sure how much grasp over language this cub had. Some seemed to be born with none at all, or very little, as she had; others were fully-articulate from hatching. She'd have to try it out, and teach him as best she could.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Savuti

He crawled up close to her, giving her his own experimental sniff before he sat down. As he sat, he looked hunched over and he tucked his little stubby tail up underneath him. He could understand some of what she was saying, for he knew she was not just making random sounds, but that they meant something. "Giggle..." he repeated, watching her.

She was asking for his name? His name, yes.... He had yet to speak it, but he knew deep down somewhere, a name that had been whispered to him at some point while he lay safe inside his chrysalis.

"Sa... Savuti." he said, tripping over his own name as he tried to say it out loud for the first time.

"Savuti! ... my name." he squealed out loud, tail sticking straight out as he stood up suddenly, clearly very excited about the new development. When he realized he may have been a little too loud, his voice echoing up to the ceiling, he shrunk back down and cuddle close to her neck.

@Giggle

Giggle listened closely, giving the cub all of her attention. As he spoke his name, though stumbling over it, she gave an encouraging murmur sort of sound. And when he stood up proudly--or excitedly?--she felt a motherly warmth flood through her.

Oh, by the Caves, I love him already. Kindness crinkled her worn, scarred features, and she chittered softly with amusement. The tone wasn't mocking, but warm, approving even.

With benevolent patience--as if there was nowhere in the world she'd rather be, and he had her full attention--she spoke gently. Her heart melted further as he lay close to her neck, and she offered a nuzzle over his chocolate-brown cub's pelt mid-sentence. "Well, Savuti, it's good to meet you. You can stay here, with me, as long as you like. I have many children--I teach them to hunt, to use magic," she went on. Her words came slowly, and she didn't expect him to pick up all the meaning straightaway. But it would be good, she knew, for him to hear language--the more one spoke, the faster (in her experience, anyway) the children seemed to pick it up.

For a moment, she snuffled over the cub, delighting in his new-hyena-pup smell, memorizing it as family. "How do you feel?" she asked, at length. Perhaps he wanted to speak; perhaps he was hungry, or curious about magic--many of them were. She wasn't about to pick for him, though; it was always good, she'd found, to let the young lead in their own education, in their own lives.

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ROLL THE BONES

@Savuti