Backdated to Early April

There were many things the Bone King had in life that he loved and adored: his Mother, his Bonebound, his family, home, fungus - the bones, the cavernous crypt, the friends he'd made beyond canis; but, but, but, the center of all his attention (perhaps a little unfairly, given the confrontation he was pointedly avoiding by never leaving home) was Damask. His little darling was shaping up, taking the world on her own and learning to hunt, fly, live. Eythan'd taught her flight, but she'd returned from Orion breathless and in wonder - having met her own aunt Ashtoreth.

Bones, his daughter was growing up quick - and it almost pained Aure to know that.

But he was proud, so proud. She was a whip-smart child, and a prodigy as far as magic was concerned. Wits sharp as a razor blade, he had every bit of faith in her to make her way in the world even with... what ailed her. Anxieties, Aure could understand - but he'd never truly had to struggle with disordered and irrational panic (except for in the past whirlwind month.) He figured that if maybe, maybe he pushed, she might be helped out of it and learn that there wasn't much to fear in just encountering someone.

His darling'd grown less resistant to meeting the rest of the Bonebound, too worn-down from his wheedling about getting to know the family to put up much of a fight. Her only requests, really, had been some time to prepare.

Given the lack of writing systems and sticky notes, this was a problem.

Coordinating the three of them - especially with Damask's growing penchant for leaving Canis altogether in search of different sights - was proving to be difficult. Aure was, at first, taking the route of trying to get Damask with him and strolling up to his mother's den. Tragically and hilariously, she never seemed to be there. He'd tried to spot his mother in her den and then go to find Damask - and she'd be gone right after.

The whole scenario was a bit like a sitcom, and the wyvern was resorting to desperate measures such as plain loitering around the area and asking that Damask stay nearby and keep watch from afar. Just in case she wandered off to inspect something in the lull, he'd left behind a trail of softly-glowing fungal blooms, each pile of them perfectly imitating his footsteps, right down to the point of his claws. No way to mistake the direction.

Aure let his magic carry strong right to the edge of his mother's den (which wasn't really a den so much as an open space she often slept in) and peered around it. The scent of decay was particularly strong today - maybe she had a rat cached away somewhere - and he caught sight of her in some capacity and trotted forwards, chirping, "mom?"

He went for a nuzzle, crooning, "how're you doing?" The hybrid waited for an answer, then turned his head back to the way he'd come, like his next words were a signal of sorts: "I've been trying to catch you around." Aaaaand now, to get right into it, Aure called, "someone's here to meet you."

@Giggle

It was, in great part, Giggle's fault.

She'd been out hunting samples of Mother--and due to various equally idiotic circumstances, she hadn't yet told her Bone King. Her son. She probably should--and she intended to; and the moment she saw him, she resolved to do so at last. She'd been away, she'd been distracted, worried about all the implications; not a very good Bonebound member at all, really.

I'll tell him now, she resolved--but then those words... Someone's here to meet you.

"Who-?" she blurted, wondering if it were an old friend, perhaps, or a new ally to the Bonebound, or-... the chrysalis he'd shown her at the cairn.

Bones, I've... been away awhile, haven't I? What if it's the kid? Brief mental math put the hatching at a couple weeks ago, at least--unless she'd calculated wrong--and she mentally berated herself for having let this slip so far.

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

@Aure

@Auré !
scooting in here with dual approval

auré's toadstools paved a trail of light in three-toed vees that bloomed at damask's feet. she walked his path with rationed steps. a sizable caroller dangled in her teeth, snagged by the wing, tiny rivulets of blood braided around its singular leg. her feathers were preened to an oily sheen, slick as pomade: she looked like a kid stuffed into his first tuxedo. without the usual ruffles, nothing hid the edges and contours of her unfinished frame, somewhere between sleek and scrawny. every feature was a flaw in her eyes, but it would have to suffice. according to auré, this was long overdue.

already her second cycle had seen a family litany — eythan by appointment, ashtoreth by accident, today's guest star neither and both. giggle was more than her grandmother: she was seer, advisor, and matriarch to the bonebound, a paragon in auré's heart. damask held as much fear for her as she did admiration. not so long ago, she might've refused this meeting, choice in the matter or not; but something had changed since then, and that something was flying. each aerial hunt came easier to her wings, and another of orion's constellations mapped itself in mind with every venture thereto. she was as ready now as she would ever be. evidently her magic agreed, for she'd cast out her senses to search for a presence and seen it in exquisite detail: hyenid bloodflow drawn to the capillaries. that made this a sure thing. meanwhile, auré had planned on going in blind, trusting in fate to bring him his mother after several failed visits. he was the kindest soul she'd ever know, but he could be so dense at times; they complemented each other in that way.

she drew to a halt, ears flicking forward to catch the muffled blur of speech up ahead. she knew her father's warm, soft cadence as well as her own pulse. "... how're you doing? i've been trying to catch you around." the second sentence was clearer, as if he'd turned back to face her. a cue. the young bird of prey crept forward, slightly uphill, following the trail through a sudden layer of foliage. the terrain sloped into a gentle incline here, and she stopped just sort of its peak, awaiting the final go-ahead.

"someone's here to meet you."

with a deep, mustering breath, damask stepped clear of the rise. another voice, unfamiliar, started and stopped in something like surprise: "who — ?" a small clearing spread below, nestled against the wall. there stood the rusty figure of her father — beside a shadowy one, hunched and matted, known to her only by auré's magic.

that's her.

damask's head rose, then dipped in silent acknowledgment as she picked her way into the open den. auré's fungal path dwindled to an end, two silhouettes looming over her vision. she bowed to set down the gift, then stepped back and (don't lose composure, kid) lifted pale eyes in opposition to giggle's earthen ones, so dark they were almost black. the scent of decay simmered in the air — sickly overwhelming, even to a nose as weak as hers. under other circumstances, she might have flinched. under these, she did not. she drew herself up, coolly unblinking, looking more as though she'd prepared for an interview than a belated family get-together.

"hello." it might've been the first time she'd ever said the word out loud, and it came off a little stiff, preceded by an intake of breath. the fledgling disliked extraneous formalities, but then, this was a formal occasion. she glanced edgewise at her father, and with it came a slight perk in her features, as it always did — only for her face to freeze over again with returned regards to giggle. now was the time to be impressive. hope and excitement and nervousness churned in her chest, but she kept her voice level. "i'm damask. your grandchild."

Perhaps, one day, Giggle would find the right moment to tell her son about the mind-rending fungus housed in a shadowed corner of her den, festering. "Who-?" came from her lips, and Aure stepped out of the way with a slight flourish of the wing.

Enter Damask, looking more professional than greeting a family member. His eyes flickered down to the offered caroller, a small smile on his face. A gift (he hoped, rather than a peace offering.) Had they not already established a respectful ruling of save touch for special occasions he might've given her a gentle shove from the rear, either with snout or the edge of his flight feathers. Instead, Aure hovered gently beside her, just within wide-eyed periphery, giving sort of a tip of his beak, a go on gesture when she peered over.

Letting her and Giggle take the lead.

@Giggle

The dead bird was the first thing she noticed--a brief, surprised jolt, because she had no idea who Damask was and, for the briefest instant, she worried that those dull blue feathers had once been black. A stupid worry, perhaps, but not, maybe, an unsurprising one; Giggle rarely saw birds in Canis, bar her own familiar, and herself fed near solely on rodents.

It was a moment, then, before her startled eyes lifted to regard the strange, black-and-white creature before her: built, in a startling moment of realization, like Aure, but with pristine colors untouched by the cave's ochre stain. A brief cursory inhale told her that this one wasn't touched, either, by fungus; no, those perfect feathers couldn't be.

...But where is Eythan? This thought--like the rest--was here and gone in a fraction of a second. She wanted to check Eythan's mind for betrayal, though she doubted she'd find it. She wanted to know why he wasn't present at this meeting, which was an obviously important one; was he taking no role in raising this child..?

She shook the thought away and stepped forward, expression warm; she ignored the bird for the child, moving to sniff her over and draw close in a friendly, reassuring way--or as much so as a ragged hyena could do. For once, though, Giggle's pelt was not stained through with fungus; the odor on her own body was not too bad.

"This is-?" she asked, the unspoken question cut off, with a glance at Aure; her voice was soft. This is your child? But it didn't need saying, did it? She was; she so obviously was. She was the granddaughter of herself, and Aza'zel. The child of Aure. The one whom the bones claimed a bright and brilliant future for.

It didn't occur to her, given the child's small size, that she wasn't quite a fresh hatch. She didn't think to ask.

"Hello, little one. Welcome. I'm Giggle, your grandmother. Tell me about yourself?" Gently said, warmly, and a little slow; she assumed the kid was new, after all, and would need slow speech to comprehend it.

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

@Damask

@Auré !

auré's gesture did not go unnoticed, and damask gave a slow blink in exchange, hoping he could feel her gratitude — and a little of an apology. by virtue of circumstance, she'd chosen not to address him directly; it wasn't her intention to ignore him, nor to downplay his role. she could've done this alone. she wouldn't have wanted to, wouldn't have done it well, but she could've. simply by being here, he'd spared her that ordeal.

but her focus shifted back to giggle now — just as the hyena took a step closer, snuffling softly. (naturally she ignored the offering; if anything, it'd almost seemed to startle her. damask took a mental note to avoid gifts going forward.) the fledgling couldn't help but stiffen, locked up in near-imperceptible trembling at the proximity. she'd known her grandmother would tower over her, but a trick of the light couldn't compare to her presence up close, some three times her height and many more her weight. even standing as tall as she could, she scarcely reached giggle's chest. still, she kept herself straight and still, and gradually her posture relaxed. somehow she hadn't expected her grandmother to be so benevolent. for all her grandeur and mystique, her warmth was reassuring.

"hello, little one. welcome. i'm giggle, your grandmother."

damask shifted her weight from foot to foot, professionalism faltering in a faint hint of a smile. something about that tone surprised her, though. it struck her as a little off, too slow, as if — does she know how old i am? maybe the hyena had simply lost track of time, but, well. her size probably wasn't helping, was it. she held back a cringe. it's fine ... she'll figure it out.

and then, the million-dollar question: "tell me about yourself."

oh, no. this really was an interview.

"all right." damask inhaled, swallowing a threat of panic as she glanced quickly back at auré for courage. a bolt of uncertainty flashed over her face, briefly irrepressible — but safely tucked away by the time she'd turned back to giggle.

"i consider myself ..." awkward. weak. a nervous wreck. "thoughtful. ambitious. conscientious. i'm partial to mapping, hunting, exploring; i'd like to think i'm making good progress with magic; ah, and recently i've learned to fly. working on that as well." the words rattled off in rapid fire, but the effect was one of economy and precision, rationed into the smallest space possible without any loss of detail or lucidity. a loaded pause, not quite long enough to allow a reply, and then the fledge ventured, "i could show you, if you like. anything you want." she cleared her throat. for her to speak this much at once was exceptionally rare. "it's ... very nice to finally meet you, grandmother."

The bird might not have been the most sensible thing to offer to an old mother relying on one - and Aure realized that a bit too late with a wince. Giggle simply side-stepped it, though, moving forwards to appraise his darling and introduce herself. "This is - ?" "My daughter, yes," he chirped warmly, taking the backseat unless spoken to. This was between them, and no other. He wanted Damask to feel safe and secure enough to seek out her grandmother on her own, without him within arm's reach.

There was a bit of sniffing, and a proper greeting... a little bit slow-spoken but without a hint of malice. Simply just a misunderstanding of how old the child was - Damask twisted to look at him with a bit of deer-caught-in-the-headlights running through, and he'd simply nodded again. Go on.

On Damask went, words tumbling out without as much restraint as she usually showed.

A warm, proud sort of feeling surged in his breast, sticking between his ribs like molten, gooey honey. He inhaled deeply, exhaled twice as deep, and smiled gently; stepping just a little further into the backdrop of fungus and bones.

@Giggle

Giggle was, to say the least, taken aback by the child's reply. No newly-hatched used words like that, used language with such skill, and a flicker of nightmarish stress fell over her for the briefest moment. Things like this--things that weren't as they should be, that suddenly jolted her from her accepted reality--always had this effect on her. She blinked to Aure, peering, confused, and then down to the child, trying to shove the thoughts away and focus.

"You're older than I thought," she said, with a brash, rough, warm humor to it. The old smoking grandma, loving, but blunt with her thoughts. Close on the heels of these thoughts came the realization that the kid wasn't being introduced to her at hatching--and why..? Giggle at once blamed herself: her preoccupation with that damn fungus had hidden from her the ongoing nature of family matters. Shit. "I'm sorry we didn't meet sooner--I'm sorry I wasn't here so much, Aure. I'll explain to you why at a better time. Now--it's good to meet you too, kiddo. Exploration, eh?" she added, staring with a sharp glint in her eye at Damask once more. She lowered herself to sit on her haunches, thinking, having now returned to a normal tone and speech rate. "Now, that might be a trait that's skipped a generation. Your grandfather, on Eythan's side; he was an explorer, a mapper. Has Aure told you that-? I don't think he's seen them, but Cancer had a stone. He was etching a map of the caves into them. Maybe you can find that--wherever it might be?--and work from there." It was encouragement, really: but more than that, genuine conversation. The kid's interests would, of course, interest her grandmother, and Giggle was all for positive praise. "So the Bonebound will have its own mapper, hm? That'll be useful," she added. And this sentence held not the cold impartiality of "this will benefit us," but again, the warm reassurance that Damask's interests would be helpful to them all.

"As for magic--whose did you get? That'll be useful to you, but I'm sure your dad's told you all about that?" she added, firing Aure a nod.

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

@Damask

@Auré !

at giggle's admission and apology — that she'd underestimated her age, should've met her sooner — damask tipped her head in acknowledgment. for all the fledgling's worry about this meeting, her grandmother was so terribly tender, almost familiar. there was something about that easy affection and sandpaper voice, like, like ... "now — it's good to meet you too, kiddo." eythan. like him. "exploration, eh?" that was a preface, not an inquiry. interest sparked in damask's eyes, much in the manner of a child scooting in for storytime. as she leaned closer to listen, she registered the widening gap between herself and her father. he'd taken a step back, as if to wean her off before slipping away. he thinks i can handle it, and maybe she could, except:

(... what?)

"... that might be a trait that's skipped a generation. your grandfather, on eythan's side ..."

...

...

...
did i hear that right? a highway of ellipses bled out in her heart. no. no. yes. giggle could've misspoken, or she could be misinterpreting, she couldn't assume had to confirm it — stop. can't you see it makes sense? images of his whiplash tail, its two fans of feathers, the dark rosettes that dappled his back. think about it. eythan teaching her the way of the wing. eythan twice diving after her with saltwater eyes. eythan's claws a lethal thunderbolt at her throat.

a shutter-click blink. she jerked her muzzle an inch to the left, then straightened and lifted it, tracing a tiny acute angle into the air. very subtle, passable as typical avian fidgeting, but still not nothing. for a moment, just a moment, damask seethed in anger, pain, confusion — and then put them all on a leash and snapped the chain hard.

the hyena had paused by now. something about a stone with a map.

"i was not aware," she said of the tablet (don't look at auré) crisply and levelly (do not look at him) with careful control in her voice. "i'll see what i can find out. thank you for telling me." and try as she did, she couldn't keep the slightest edge from that word telling.

"so the bonebound will have its own mapper, hm? that'll be useful." "yes, i hope that i will be."

here the conversation turned to magic. oh, good. that'll give you something to chew on. dancing around the specifics of the question, damask replied, "i work with wind; a little with blood. self-taught, mostly." she plucked at her stone for a small demonstration. it complied quietly, and with a maestroesque nudge of her nose, she sent a figure-eight breeze swirling at hers and giggle's feet. it was gentle, yet evident, a cool sigh against her trousers. fine. not great, but fine. sustaining the spell, she rolled her shoulders in a diffident shrug. "i could ... very much benefit from some training."

"I'll explain to you why at a better time."

Aure took this without much fight, simply nodding and staying where he was, positioned just so that he was a fixture in the background. Giggle knew how to peel away layers of concern, reveal what lies inside with a gentle - blunt - warmth; he could practically see Damask let herself unravel into it and - "... on Eythan's side;" Oh, Mom, his mind practically gasped, with all the dramatic flair such a phrase might evoke despite his still posture. Bright eyes oh-so-inconspicuously went to look at his little darling, search her stance with an idle hope of maybe she didn't pick up on that.

It wasn't that her life-giver's identity was a terrible secret to be kept; no, no, it was a decision that Eythan'd made of his own accord, to prevent later... uh, transgressions from his poor paternal instinct. He was better-suited as an uncle, and Damask already knew him as such - it'd be a bit of a sudden shift.

But, Aure wasn't going to say anything about that right now. The young King was going to stand right here, acting as if nothing were wrong, mentally urging the two of them to handwave all that...

Blessedly, either party seemed to dance around the subject, Damask's focus falling on talk of magic - which brought a hint of embarrassment. Aure shifted his weight from either foot, head tilting sideways for a moment. There hadn't been terribly much work on that from him. Most of the conversations he had with the raptor were about her daily investigations or his own idle rambling of what sights he'd seen or answering various questions about the secrets of the universe - normal fare. Philosophy over practicality.

Eythan being her father or not, Aure at least knew some wind magic. It wasn't terribly precise and erred more on the destructive side, but the knowledge was there.

@Giggle