Fornax was stiflingly humid compared to the barren dryness of Canis, now suffused in an oppressive heat reminiscent of the sun itself.

But, he was glad to be home.

Upon his return, he had been informed of a number of things: Bonebound had come seeking promotions well-earned; and there had been a new cave revealed, full of trials and tribulations — and death came at the end of that, in the form of one Vincenzo. Aure had not reacted well to the last item on that list. The gull's stone was likely destroyed and bones unrecoverable. Even if the Bonebound were purpose-less, he had still been part of the family, and deserved even a modicum of a cairn in his honor.

But, better to end — rather than begin — the meeting on that note, hm?

Blunt talons scraped against the precipice experimentally, feeling much more at home than they had before. He wasn't a King quite yet, but perhaps he would finally make himself deserving of that title. Bright eyes shifted slightly, glinting as he puffed up his feathers and looked about. Normally, Vincenzo would be the… messenger of sorts, the Loudmouth. But Vincenzo was gone, and Aure would have to call his family together on his own.

An affected sigh, and he was off, swooping low across the bone pits and stalagmites, calling all the way, "come, Bonebound and not! We have much to discuss!" He made a few lazy loops, then returned to his father's perch, tucking in his wings and waiting patiently for whoever would arrive — which, he hoped, was all of them.

Welcome to the actually useful (and important) Bonebound meeting, everybody!

As a general agenda for liquid-timing purposes, this meeting will discuss the following: the meeting called by the Children of Rot and knowledge-seeking; our affiliation with the Ancients; Binding Ceremonies (Bound, you better attend if you want in on becoming a Bonebound and receiving the Marrowsight spell!); and, finally, Vincenzio's demise and cairn-building. :(

Anyone, Bonebound or not, is welcome to attend this meeting! However, attendance for Bonebound members is mandatory (unless you've OOCly discussed with me why your character cannot be present) or you will be removed from the group.

So, let's get the ball rolling and give the Bonebound some purpose!

@Giggle @Bones @Kerberos @Zelk @Zawadi @Orlaith @Eli @Aries @Wilder @Skeena

Giggle paced in, face tight and thoughts distant. There had been much going on--and to the Seer, it was all rife with terrible omens.

Hydra had opened--blastingly, blisteringly hot. Many had gone in... fewer had come out. Among them had been one of their own.

The bones had given her ominous warnings about those not yet brought to justice. About the sleeping gemstones, and why not to revive them.

She'd felt the upwelling, though, of a new and strange magic. It wasn't too distant from her abilities to see past and future--hell, it was almost the same as the former. But it linked, too, to the bones--purely so--like an extention, an evolution, of the bone-reading magic and the past-sight all mixed together. She and Aure, seeking the truths in the bones, had found themselves drawn more and more--and perhaps it had been their proximity, their pooled magic and wills--into the last few moments of life still whispering their echoes from the pale remains. Eythan had learned it, too, and his quiet suggestions had proven to be wise, in their way. For all his past impatience and volatility, he had--in her mind--learned calm.

Quiet, as she shuffled into place beside Aure, she glanced down and pressed a paw to a bone. Her grim, absent demeanor--fidgeting, here and there--wasn't too hard to notice, but for a beat her worried mind preoccupied itself with (or perhaps reinforced its own worries with) touching itself to a glimpse of the past.

It was the same as all the others: a vision that had proven eerily identical to a hundred others like it, others that she'd watched with gradually-growing horror.

Quiet. Darkness. Fearful, rapid breathing. Hiding. Scrambling. Cowering. A massive shadow, smashing into the piles of the bones; a crunch of jaws. Pain, and then nothing.

Had the Gembound of the past all been hunted down? Was that what Lorekeeper's story had hinted at? Did the Bonebound live in nothing more than a failed sanctuary--a graveyard of frightened victims?

And what was to stop this all from happening again?

It might well be that we--the Bonebound, here among the only parts that can tell us what really happened--are the only ones in a real position to stop it from repeating. She lifted her dark eyes, then, hoping beyond hope that those who turned up to this meeting were many: and that those who arrived would be able, and capable, and strong.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

There was something that Zawadi did not realize as she made her way towards Aure's call. She was almost grown, an adult. Not much time was left of her childhood before she would be named as a true adult. Her hyena jaws have gotten fully developed to the point where she can crack bones with ease. She had also gotten larger, and very close to her adult size. Her training in hunting was quite useful. As a spotted hyena she learned that she has great stamina, and can chase prey towards exhaustion. Her mouth was her main weapon. Latch on, and don't let go. She has gotten better with her hunting skills, and was proud of it. The almost grown hyena sat down, waiting for the meeting to start.

The large bear heard the call for the members of the Bonebound to gather, so she obediently followed the call to the meeting. Zelk wondered if Eythan would be there. He was the one that helped her and Orlaith out. Would he be shocked to see how big she has gotten? Zelk wondered what would be discussed at the meeting. A lot of questions were running through her head, but, when she got there she simply decided to sit and wait for the meeting to begin. She knew Orlaith would not be here, as she talked to the tiger recently. Orlaith wanted to follow her own path, as for Zelk, she wished to stay with the Bonebound. She wanted to make something of herself here.

ELI
I CAN GO THE DISTANCE

Eli had flown in and taken as seat near Giggle, a familiar face. Well, everyone in the Bonebound was a familiar face, but Giggle he remembered since birth. It was comforting and he needed some comfort. It was nice to see the all the family gathering here, but a grim darkness clung to Eli. Vinnie was dead, swallowed up by Hydra, and even worse, there was nothing to retrieve.

And Elyon...

He had lost her scent. There was no telling if she was even alive. Eli looked to their leader, his brother, eyes clouded and bleak. He wondered if the reason he called them all here was to do something that awful cave. With its maw gaped open, he could not rest easy.

Despite everything that had happened, with her temporary exile to Fornax and her agreement with Aure, Wilder could not help but come to the Bonebound's meeting. She still lived in Canis, just away from the main group, for fear that a trance would come and she could actually, properly hurt someone this time. She couldn't do that. She would never do that. But this was a special occasion. It wouldn't take that long, right? No chance for her to have a problem, right?

Still, she didn't join the main body of the group, instead floating a little ways away from the back. Still close enough to hear Aure's words, but far enough away that, if something happened, they would have ample time to prepare and to stop her.

There was something grim on a few of the faces. Being away from the group hadn't given her any kind of information, so she was desperately ignorant on current events. She frowned with concern and tilted her head curiously. Had something happened? Was there an attack? Had someone died?

She wasn't going to call attention to herself, however, and simply sat herself down, tucking her paws underneath her body and making herself look like a pleasant, black loaf.

He failed once again.

Here he was, a protector of the Bonebound, and a threat had snuck up behind him and killed one their treasure members. Aries blamed himself for not acting sooner. He should have been there with Eythan, he should have stopped them from going in. He failed his found family, and of that he was deeply ashamed, but he would not let it beat him. Not like last time.

No, a fire had be lit within him, one like never before, and it burned hotter than Hydra.

Aries took his place among his brethren, presenting himself as able-bodied. Whatever Aure needed of him, he was there, ready to serve.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: // OOC:

Come, Bonebound and not! We have much to discuss!

The coyote's ears perked up, and he raised his head from where it was resting next to Bronx's. The bear skull's eyes lit up with a ghostly brown light, and he grumbled a sleepy "'Whatcha doin' kid?'"

Ischium tilted his head, listening for more words, but there was nothing, and he didn't bother sniffing the air. He couldn't smell, didn't know that others could, either, seeing as he had spent his life with the bones, had avoided living Gembounds for his entire life. He had all the friends he needed, after all, Bronx and Chatter and Amma and the others he had met and brought back to his little tunnel, making his own little family. "Don't you hear that?" he asked,

but the bear grumbled "Hear what?" and his brown eyes flickered out again.

Ischium laid his head down, but curiosity got the better of him and he stood. One of the bear's eyes showed again, floating to look at him, giving a side-eye, and the coyote muttered "Just gonna see what it is,"

Bronx sighed, but 'closed' his eye again, grumbling "Take someone with you." and Ischium nodded, immediately knowing that he would take his best friend--Amma was like a fussy grandma, Bronx an indulgent uncle, but he and Chatter got along like brothers. So he loped over to the rat's little spot, a nook he had dug into the dirt wall, poking him with his nose.

"Wha?" the rat's yellow eyes flicked open, staring at him in alarm, "Itchi what's wrong?"

Ischium shook his head, tongue lolling out in a doggy grin. "Nothing's wrong, Chatter, there's something going on and I'm curious. Come on!"

and the rat was curious, too, so he said, "Alright! Let's go!" and Ischium grabbed him carefully in his mouth, making sure to hold him facing outwards, eye-sockets not covered, so that he could see as well.

And, whoa! What was that? A funny looking thing, and another funny thing that looked kind of like him in the face? and looked like it kind of had a skull like Bronx? but smaller? And a slightly smaller thing that looked like the Bronx-kinda thing, and then a white thing that definitely had a Bronx skull. Something funny sitting near the first Bronx-thing, a little black thing, and a thing with horns like Curly.

He sat down a bit of a distance away, not used to being around so many living Gembound, and wagged his tail as he set Chatter down, whispering in the rat's ear-socket, "You seeing this?"

and the rat 'nodded', eyes bobbing up and down. "Yeah, what are they?" and Ischium shrugged. He had no idea, but now he wanted to know. He couldn't want to tell Amma and Bronx and everyone else!

So, clearing his throat, the sickly-looking coyote spoke up, addressing Aure. "What... what is 'Bonebound'?

L A U R E L
i'd prolly rather nap than wonder

Really, Laurel was just minding her own business when she saw an utter shadow soar right above her head. She’d only emerged from her chrysalis a few days ago; nothing she saw implied that things could.. Fly? Yes- fly was right. Like it was thrown by something really huge.

Was it thrown? The pup turned her head with ears perked, trying to see if some giant thing had actually just yeeted whatever was soaring around in Canis. Nope, nothing.

Giving up on her two second search, Laurel raced in the direction of whatever she saw flying around. Was it the thing that was making such a racket? Powerful new muscles carried her after it, wide brown eyes tracking it as far as she could. What was that thing? Did it want her to make noise too? Excited, she yipped after it as she bound over bones and stones littering the cave floor, leaping up to get closer to it so high up in the air.

She was surprised to see it land. It had legs? Well, you learn something every day. For Laurel, a lot of things were learned every day; she just realized what a day was a few hours ago when she woke up, for example. This hour, though, she was surprised to see so many creatures as she neared the bird creature perched up on some sort of.. Thing. Why was that cat sitting so far away? What was that thing with the bones on their head? And- woah, was that a DOG? With WINGS?

Laurel yapped happily as she wormed between everyone, her tail going a mile a minute. It was sitting beside some spotted dog- neat! With a hop and a skip she jumped in front of the two of them, dropping down onto her forearms in a playbow stance.

“Hey! Hello! You’re a bird!” She yipped out fairly astutely, her nose sniffing the air excitedly. “But also dog!” Dust collected in her nostrils and she let out a sneeze before hopping to the other side, her tail whipping dangerously.

She didn’t realize that this was probably rude.

@Eli @Giggle [Anyone's free to call her out]

Aure was loud, not as loud as Vinnie, but she heard him well enough. Her head popped out of her tunnel, looking up to see Aure swooping overhead. She pulled her head back inside for a moment, disappearing inside as she retrieved her beloved vertebrae, clutching it in her paw, before darting back out and beginning to dart towards the meeting perch.

Mother had beat her there, and she took a moment to look everyone over before joining Mother. She still felt some shame for almost risking her neck, for having to be hauled back by Mother, for scaring Mother so badly. So she hesitated before going to Mother's side. There was the young hyena there, that she had seen Mother with once or twice, a polar bear she'd never seen. And there was Eli, and Aries, a loud-mouthed dog and a questioning coyote.

Carefully holding her vertebrae, she made her way down to Mother. "Hello Mother," she greeted her, nuzzling into her side as she looked up to Aure. A banana appeared between her paws, and she bit it in half, the insides fairly goopy. One half, the larger, was offered to Giggle with a "Banana?"