The first to seek out was Aure, of the Bonebound.

Astraea didn't know much of them, but he knew enough. Canis was perfect for his needs.

Flanking him to his left was the Collector, and Astraea could practically hear him grinning, greasy and leering, beneath his cowl. On his right was Rezik, like a smaller, blue mirror of himself, and the only creature the Master had ever seen manage to combine both haughty arrogance and fawning servitude.

Disgusting.

Astraea paused, drawing himself up, looking over the fields of endless bones. These, at least, brought a brief and twitching smile to his face. He lifted his head, and called out, his voice carrying through the cave. "Auré, of the Bonebound! Come, and gather your people here."

This is the Bonebound portion of the Spy vs Spy quest. Only Bonebound members may join this thread.

@Aure

Aure was familiar with Astraea, and the sight of the stag with an entourage was enough to make his skin crawl. The Collector's pinprick red eyes were memorable enough (and essentially was a fellow-life giver to Aether Goldmoth, as he remembered faintly) but he had yet to see the strange flat-faced being astride them.

The Bone King eyed the group warily as he alighted - some distance away, should a trap be sprung by the mass gathering of Bonebound. For a moment, he considered his options: he could simply refuse to, but stand at the mercy of one of the oft-spoken-about Masters; he could press for answers, but he doubted any in the party would provide them without the presence of many. They sought the entire group.

He figured, though, that it would only be fair to make sure that his kin stayed such a respectable distance away. Crimson eyes glanced at the group for a moment, then he called out across Canis: "Bonebound and Bound! Gather here and behind me and be cautious!"

get tagged lmao
@Giggle @Skeena @Bones @Zawadi (Zelk) @Wilder @Aries (Eli) @Kerberos (Ashtoreth) @Laurel @Ischium @Kalama

There had been much activity, of late. She had heard the Overseer-creature--the one who had asked questions of the bones--calling others to gather. She heard, now, Aure; but Omen had seen Astraea, and the Collector and this new blue thing, stalking through the bones already, as if they owned this place. Some deep anger, some strange sense of injustice, had struck her. She could not have said why--but upon seeing them, she had already moved to her bone pit, had already been consulting the bones to ask them what this all meant.

The bones had spoken of children, breaking away from their parents. Of a team, perhaps that same, or another--differing beings working together, as a unit. And she had seen, too, great difficulties ahead, a difficulty that would need great strength to overcome.

These thoughts, then, troubled her as Aure called to them. That had been unexpected. She hadn't thought that the stag and his cronies were there for them. But her son had called; and, dutifully, she trotted out to meet him.

Her son was a distance away, wary, she thought--as was she, and she cast a dark and suspicious eye over the gathering as she came up alongside him, taking her place sitting slightly behind him but at his side.

"I'm here," was all she said, quiet enough that only Aure would hear, in a low and hoarse near-growl.

She didn't take her eyes off their "visitors."

________________

ROLL THE BONES

Wilder heard the call as well, but unlike Giggle, she was much less informed on the going-ons of the caves. The time she spent with the Bonebound, she usually stayed a little ways away, in the place she hid in after the incident with Aure had scared her enough to stay away. And she split the time between this place and with Bauble at her home in Polaris, wondering where Regalia could be and waiting anxiously for the third stone to hatch...but it had yet to move.

She was in the right place now, at least, still around from the Bonebound's meeting. She lifted her head and bounded towards the source of Aure's call and had to stop herself from rushing ahead at the sight of the three creatures before them. Still, her face split into a grin (born of ignorance and, for sure, stupidity) when she saw both the Collector and Rezik standing next to a deer she didn't know. "Aure, hey, Aure! That's Rezik! The blue one with the funny antlers. He's really really old! I woke him up," she puffed out proudly, as if that was a great, proud accomplishment. Perhaps she truly didn't understand the magnitude of what Rezik had done in ages long past, nor the irony of not only harboring the stone of the one he'd murdered, but having given life to it (although King N'chard's stone hadn't hatched just yet).

It'd been a hot second since Aure assembled the troops for something with such urgency. Eythan's first thoughts were oh shit, this is how we go. A call for caution could only mean untimely death with one misstep. From his nest high up in the Chambers, the gryphon swooped low and quick on broad wings. Using his weight to propel himself through the air, he made quick time.

The first thing he saw, of course, was the Collector, still probably named Algol of all things. What a silly name, go put the dunce cap on you used cars salesman. Crimson eyes narrowed, ears flickering back, but he otherwise kept his claws to himself in light of inspecting the strange faces next to the tall dark lord. Either weren't familiar to him, and that set him even further on edge.

Eythan alighted quietly - with only a click of his talons to announce his presence behind Aure.

The ram came dutifully when called. He made sure place himself up front as the Bonebound crowd gathered- right where Astraea and his cronies could see him. The sight of the trio made him sick- no- angry. Khloros had informed him well of Astraea's misdeeds and according to the Spellweaver the deer, who was tasked with protecting them, was clearly off his rocker.

When Hydra, that horrible death-cave, opened and gembounds were ushered in (including one of their own!) for a senseless trial, what did he do? Their so-called protector sat back and watched as gembounds died needless deaths, and approved. Disgusting.

And the Collector was just annoying, with his magic tricks and stupid pointy grin. Aries didn't trust that gembound one bit. He seemed like real slime ball.

However, he did not recognize the blue one. Wilder piped up and claimed he was called "Rezik" and she brought him to life. Aries shot her glance that said "seriously?" He guessed that Rezik was just has horrible as the others since he stood beside them.

Great. Now he had one more baddie to deal with...

Aries stepped forward, lifting his chin high. Neck muscles rippled under his brown coat as the held up his large, curling horns. A bone snapped underneath him. He stared them down, his golden glare hard and scalding. They dared to show their faces here. He stood, ready to defend Aure and the Bonebound at any cost, should things turn ugly.

Smoke rose from his hooves as Aries let his magic slip. He figured a good show of heat would send a message- that the Bonebound was not to be messed with. However, the bones underneath him never smoldered, instead his own hooves burned. Smoke and the smell of burnt keratin that wafted around him and through the ranks. His eyes watered from the smoke and pain, but Aries puffed out his chest, playing it off, even as he bit back the urge to yelp.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: // OOC:

Astraea waited in dour silence. Their leader had arrived, and he studied him, wondering if he were large enough, strong enough, for the task he had for them.

And--'Be cautious!' Hrmph.

The stag snorted softly. "Caution, yes," he agreed, his voice somehow calm and acidic both. "We must all show one another respect, and be careful not to offend." Ruby eyes stared, for a beat. When the rest had gathered--and the smoldering of the ram's hooves didn't go unnoticed; Astraea eyed him with puzzlement--he looked them over. "This is all of you-?" For a moment, he glanced to Rezik, wondering if this was even worth going through with. He then looked to the Bonebound, and sighed through his nostrils.

"I have a task for you. Gather more force, if you can--you will need them. This," and here he turned, stepping aside and looking to Rezik, "is, as the cat has pointed out, Rezik. Rezik located a deadly threat within the caves: an ancient evil that has arisen, and has in the past subjugated uncounted creatures to its will. They serve its foreign will until they are nothing but empty husks, slavishly defending their foul nest. You must keep him safe in case of retaliation, whilst I ensure that there are not other nests that must be rooted out. Perhaps one, or two cycles," he added. "And be wary of those trying to draw you in to a hive-mind, or near to a smell of rot." The stag paused, eyeing Aure again. "If you succeed, you will be rewarded. Algol, you will reward them suitably, won't you? With something other than your usual trinkets," he added, well aware of the Collector's tricks, and of his purpose.

The Collector scoffed. "My 'trinkets' are treasure beyond measure. Aha-... that rhymed," and he giggled, claws tapping eagerly together.

"And if you fail..." Astraea paused, looking over them one by one. "It is very important that Rezik survives. If you fail, you will be submitting two of your members to the next Trial. Two of your choice; but I will still be... displeased," he added. "Still. Protecting an innocent victim, when others would prefer to see his death--hardly a distasteful task." Astraea eyed Rezik over. Completely distasteful, he thought, with disgust, but did not say.

The stag looked back to the Bonebound. "I will see you again in two cycles. Rezik; go with them, and do as they say, within reason."

Rezik dipped his head, staring briefly at Wilder, not--for whatever reason--greeting her. He seemed almost cold as he paced past her and in toward the other Bonebound. His voice came clipped, cool, and haughty, as if he were displeased--even disgusted--to be amongst such filthy rabble. "I am at your disposal, I'm sure."

The Bonebound have been tasked with keeping Rezik alive for two cycles. Should he survive, they will be rewarded with a small number of enchanted items by the Collector. Should he die or otherwise vanish, Astraea will demand two Bonebound members of their choosing to the next Trial of Hydra. Members of the Bonebound may tag Game Master Dark at any time for interaction with Rezik.

@Aure (Eythan) @Giggle @Wilder @Aries

Astraea seemed to take some degree of offense to his own call for caution, and the wyvern stated as politely as he could - given the things that had been shared between the leaders of each group - "we don't often have visitors, and they're rarely Masters." They were, in all fairness, a known unknown. An 'outside' force to be revered and feared at the same time. Exercising caution was the most reasonable step.

Those Bonebound that did arrive (his mother, brother, Wilder, Aries...) were few, but strong. He had faith in each of them, even if Eythan's not-boyfriend was trying and failing to flex properly on the stag and his companions. Aure acknowledged the odd blue creature, Rezik, with a quick glance as Wilder called him by name, claiming knowledge. The wyvern started to work on a mental link between themselves.

The stag finally started on what the task at hand was, and Aure was most certainly a little wary of it. Suddenly charged with the protection of a Gembound he knew little about, the wyvern was wary. It would be either this or submission to the Trials. The mere thought of sending one of his Bonebound to death - to where Vinnie lied - sent a shiver down his spine. If it could be avoided, he would. His options immediately flew to fleeing, remaining in hiding, finding a shelter away from here.

But, they couldn't abandon the bones. They couldn't abandon their home.

He glanced back to his fellows, sighed, and blinked slowly. "I see. We will guard him to the best of our abilities."

Aure watched as Rezik, despite being known by her, didn't greet Wilder with a rather plain indifference. "It would seem so," he chirped towards the blue-creature, though his attention was elsewhere: nursing a pathetic migraine from a magickal misfire. A failed mind reader to request information from Wilder. Gritting his beak and teeth against one another, the wyvern took a few steps closer, raising a wing around the cat, whispering quietly, "tell me what you know about him. Quietly - through the mind, if you can."

He needed to know how best to go about this.

@Giggle @Wilder @Aries

Giggle rocked back on her haunches, her brash suspicion unhidden in her mind. She watched Astraea with brazen, open curiosity and distrust both. One hind foot came up to scratch at a clot of fungus dried and matted behind her ear.

It occurred to her to try and flick some of her own spores at him--magic unseen. But should I risk it..? That's his magic, too. Hell, he had the same gemstone and placement as she had (or so it seemed to her)--the same color coat, just a vaguely different shape. Were they somehow related, then?

She'd never met this one, before--not personally, not that she remembered. Granted, her memory was a little broken here and there by the trauma of unfathomable horror from the void, but she was mostly over that--she just assumed she didn't know him.

She didn't speak; Aure'd made his decision, and he was Bone King. And anyway, she couldn't fault him. Best not to refuse, and there seemed to be nothing blatantly untoward in the stag's request.

Ahh, screw it, she thought, and gave her magicka, and her fungus, a mental wave. Go follow him, would you? she thought at it, as boldly indifferent as before. Maybe he won't even notice it amongst his own.

When Rezik paced forward, Wilder grinned widely at him, opening her mouth to greet him, sure that he would greet her back, but he ignored her, pacing cooly past, with a strange face like he was stepping through vermin. She paused for a moment, wondering why he was doing that. Wasn't he her friend?

She'd brought him back, woken him up after what was surely a very very long slumber. How long was he in his chrysalis, waiting to wake up once again? If she hadn't come along, perhaps he would never have woken up. He'd been grateful, then, to have woken up, but he'd just...left her. And now he seemed to not care at all. He hadn't given her a smile, a nod of his head, even the tiniest of greetings, and it utterly broke her heart.

He smile disappeared from her face in an instant to be replaced by concerned confusion and dejection. She looked down at the ground as Astraea was speaking, catching words like "keep him safe" and "members to the next Trial" and that was enough to get the gist of it. Fear clenched her heart when she realized what the stag was saying. Two to the next Trial if Rezik dies...

Panic was about to consume her for a moment when Aure's wing draped over her shoulder. At first, she thought it was to comfort, but when she looked over, the serious expression on her face was...oddly calming and brought her back into the moment. She took a shaky breath and opened a link between their minds. It was weak, but it was there and she began to show Aure what she'd seen of Rezik.

And as the memories surfaced and she remembered as if it had happened moments ago, horror returned. She was, at last, actually thinking about something and it was really paying off. She showed Aure the memories she'd seen at the Eyes, of King N'chard's last moments, betrayed by Rezik, killed for defying the Masters. How N'chard asked for advice from his friend and Rezik returned it by drowning him in the Eyes."I thought that Rezik was just trying to protect his people, because N'chard wanted to run away and live free. It was probably impossible and Rezik just wanted them to survive. But seeing him now working with the Masters, I'm not sure what his motives are. Maybe I just wanted to believe he was good too..." She showed him a brief moment of Ancilla's last, horribly painful moments, Rezik's voice echoing in the background, almost a sneer. "He was foolish. They do not tolerate such talk." The brief snippets of time of slavery and servitude, ending with Rezik laid to rest in the mud, and, finally, the few moments she interacted with the real Rezik, Yoosung standing beside her. He was polite, refined, and calling her "Mistress" and Yoosung "Master". "He seemed okay, then, but he's so much different now." The link suddenly cut before she could say anymore and a headache was starting to develop. She made a small sound of displeasure but tried to compose herself as the world spun beneath her.

She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision, whispering softly to Aure, "Sorry, I can't keep it up much longer right now."