δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos arrived to the party five hours late with pizza. Metaphorically.

It was a good attempt at being helpful, as the massive white hound came storming up to the group just as Desert Rose took off. One head snapped up to watch the trail of the stranger, the middle head sniffing at the scene and squinting with a singular eye at everyone. The last head had a torn-off cave deer leg between its teeth, looking back in confusion as though he wasn't sure where the rest of it had gone.

"-- What's going on?" He woofed, "Who was that?" And the last head swung around, muscles, tendons and bone hanging from its jaws with a curious whine. After a heartbeat, the cerberus lowered to the ground, setting down the snack, ears twitching as he picked up on the strange atmosphere. What was that weird, slimy looking gembound? It looked... Hurt.

The big guy shuffled up next to Aure, sniffing at the unconscious gembound. "Did they attack us?" He asked in a quiet voice, sounding uncertain. He should've been here sooner-- though, it didn't look like any of the Bonebound were particularly hurt...

"What's wrong?" He pressed Aure as his other heads shared glances with the others. As out of the loop as he was, he could tell that there at least wasn't any current danger... But his family seemed grim, and not that it wasn't particularly out of character for any of them, it still bothered the three-headed mutt.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

Giggle glanced at Kerberos in passing, pausing long enough to offer each of his three heads a brief nuzzle or a lick; but she nodded to Aure as if to indicate that he could answer the three-headed dog's questions.

Then she moved off, loping quickly for her bone pit.

She was gone only a few minutes, but when she returned she waited for a lull in any conversation before speaking.

"The bones spoke of senseless violence, and suggested there'll be some sort of... rebirth, renewal. That's happening now, I don't know how, or why, or what the hell it means but they say it'll be successful. But then everything's gonna go to hell, if we aren't careful, with a lot of... breaking up of Gembound. Groups, individuals--I don't know. They're warning us that when the time comes to act, we have to use another path. Something sneaky, I think. Avoid the violence."

The hyena shrugged, and plopped back down, huffing.

This was turning out to be a very strange day.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Kerberos came a little late to the party, and with a snack that somehow made Aure even less hungry. He wagged his tail lightly in greeting, but otherwise stayed where he was, trying to wash off his leg feathers in a (kind of) clear spot of water. Giggle left it up to him to explain, which he obliged with gently - "hey, Kerberos, um - you've missed a lot." (Eythan piped up with a "Uhh, yeah, he did.")

"That was Desert -" Let's nix the rest of it for now. "He and a few other old Gembound like him live in Tunnel P and they hunt here." Apparently, they'd spawned a number of children, too. One of them was rather persistently prowling around rat nests, but seemed smart enough to leave carcasses behind. No damage done. Aure watched the cerberus sniff, sighing, "that's Opal, apparently. He attacked Rezik - we were supposed to protect him, according to Astraea. Eythan and Aries cornered him and we - found that he was full of fungus. I - um..."

Aure inhaled, closing his eyes before admitting again, "I used too strong of magic on him, trying to get it out. It's gone, now, but we don't know if - no, uh, when he'll wake up. It's... a waiting game, for us."

There was a brief interlude before their mother returned, with words from the bones - and they showed promise now, at least. Opal would awaken again, and he would be well. But, something would come later. Something to work against and defend against, but without violence. Aure could live with that part.

The young King nodded gently - it really was a waiting game, to see what came to them next and what was on its way. "I think that... all we can do now is wait and keep an eye on him, help him get back to health and - see what he might want to do when he wakes up." Those were simple enough things, right? His beak cracked open, head tilting in an Oh, and- sort of gesture: "we should try to keep eyes on him, in case he panics when he wakes up."

Eythan was looking particularly anxious, but seemingly waiting for an opening to say something.

@Kerberos

It didn't take long for Desert to grab the good doctor. Well- Good, subjectively; he was certainly nice, but the rats he saw when he approached didn't look all to swift.

But, he was a doctor, so who was Desert to make calls as to what he should and shouldn't do? He was bound to come in use here.

"There's pools 'round the area," the dragon pointed out as they soared ever closer to the groves, pointing down with a claw. "He'll probably need water since he's aquatic."

Fluttering down at the tail-end of a conversation, Desert glanced to the multi-headed canine before nodding to Aure. "I'm back." He pointed his nose to Doctor. "And I brought Doctor. Doc', this is Aure, and this is the patient." He turned his head down to the being laying prone. Opal was still breathing. Good.

"I don't recognize the plants around here, otherwise I would've dressed him a little before getting you- if you need me to grab anything from the nest, let me know." He looked to Doctor as he spoke, ears flicking forward. He may be the commander, but this was still an equal.

@Doctor

Doctor followed, his broad wingspan a rare sight in the caves--he did not often soar, and right now his fingerlike primaries stretched wide. Below, he could pick out the strange grove, so different from the rest of Canis: and within it, below its canopy, brief glimpses of the Gembound gathered there.

Once he'd landed, he wasted no time. Wings folded over his back, but his legs took him in quick, uneven hops toward Opal. He offered Aure and Kerberos only a cursory nod before settling his eyes on Opal again. "Magically wounded, yes? Fungal infection? These look like burns--surface wounds, they will have infection; sometimes a greater threat than direct injury. Damp skin, that isn't good for infection--well, it is, it's bad for staying healthy--this mucus may provide protection of some kind? Haven't seen it before-..."

The vulture rattled on as he drew up alongside the massive eel-beast, his words dropping into a rapid, thoughtful mutter about potential internal injury, recurrent fungal infection, the effects of the air temperature and humidity on infection rates, and more. Once or twice he mentioned his experiments--"in rats, it was..." and so forth; but soon enough he'd drawn himself closer and gotten down to it. Magic didn't stop him talking, though. "Best to leave the wounds open for now. What sort of magic did this-? I don't know these plants either. I don't use plants, really, except to suture. What sort of magic?" he repeated, concentrating.

He focused first on cleansing any potential infection, and more than that, boosting and strengthening Opal's own immune system. He found that it helped to speed healing, anyway, and was in general a good overall precaution to take.

"Magic not responding--I'll have to try again--but I can stay here with him, for now. His body temperature seems good. Heart rate good," he added, after listening closely near Opal's chest for a moment. "I'll monitor both and deal with them as they come. Speed or slow heart. Raise or lower temperature..." Doctor went back to muttering, focused closely on his new patient.

@Kerberos

exiting due to inactivity

The hyena lay there, for a time, as the others worked. Her head slowly lowered to her paws, eyes drooping; weariness flickered through her, after all this excitement.

But she kept watch, nonetheless--stayed awake--because Opal was a very, very unknown element.

Would he awaken, suddenly? Become aggressive again? Would the pain drive him? What would he have to say?

She lay silent, then, as the others worked; and when no one else spoke, she settled herself in for the long haul.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

don't mind if i... snatch that extra long thread magicka.. (yoinking noise) [exit]

Aure nodded briefly at Desert as he returned, and gave an equally respectful - albeit shaky - nod to the vulture tailing after him. A faint note of recognition fluttered through, but only through the association of a similar species. His ears flickered back and he swallowed, offering quietly, "something with - a lot of energy. Heat. His - um..." Well, Doctor could see as clear as day that the flesh was halfway melted off.

The young King left the good doctor to his work, ears flickering back and a knot still sitting heavily in his throat. His talons scuffled lightly, and he laid down next to his mother, flank-to-flank. There was still a stutter to his breathing, but nothing nearly as anxiety-ridden as before.

@Desert Rose Thirty-Five

Desert nodded along and gave his confirmations to Doctor's words, staring down to Opal. How had he not paid much more attention to them? He should know more about them, his wings shuffling as Doctor's mind began to truly work. No plants then- right. But, as for the type of magic, Desert's head turned to the Bone King. "Auré?" It was a bit ironic that a mucus-covered being would suffer a burn, but it wasn't so unfeasible.

He turned back to Doctor as he rattled off more and more of plans, and the dragon found he'd come to a loss. There was more the vulture was doing than he would. Should he take note..? No, he'd just get in the way- And Aure had checked out mentally.

"I'll be back in the Warren if you need me," he muttered low to Doctor before stepping back, rising into the air to soar back home.

;exit Desert