This'd been a long time coming.

Aure had no particular excuse for such a delay. Giggle and Damask had both been urging him in their individual ways, where his brother took the path of least resistance by saying outright to rip the weave out in one go. Sort of like — a Cave form of a band-aid-related phrase. He could find no fault with that particular statement. There was hardly a bad thing to worry about with this meeting, and the perceived worst of it had already passed. Everything was cleared with his daughter and he'd given her several day's notice for this so she had every right to harangue him mercilessly to make that one cast.

So, here he was: a Bone King settled atop a rock with a shaky hold on his magic. His call would carry far enough, but it always... seemed right to put extra strength behind it. Like it was some code innate to his stone. Pure coincidence, and a sense of contextual deja vu from the numerous times he'd stared into the past of Aza'zel's bones. Bright eyes flickered up and towards the cairn's dusky entrance. Inhale — one, two — and

"BONEBOUND AND GEMBOUND! COME!"
His summons echoed all across Canis, even as the pent-up magic died in his throat and popped painfully in his ears instead. Aure wasn't intending to be heard across the Caves, but the more... the merrier. Now, he couldn't even hear himself or the apparent murmurings of the gathering crowd. Their mouths were opening and closing, but there was no sound but the muffled eeeeeee-tone in his ears. That, and the roaring static of his migraine.

Claws curled into the rock as he waited, watching each face (familiar or not) come into focus and stare up.

As the last of them filtered in, the young King stood taller, took a breath, and began (a bit loudly, at first:) "hello, hello — it's been a while since I called a meeting, I know. A lot has happened since." He gestured with a gently dismissive wing, and launched into his lightly rehearsed summaries: "there was a discussion between all of the groups of the Caves and the Masters on whether or not we should work to produce for whoever is outside of the Caves, or rebel. Astraea was there and promised our safety in exchange for compliance, and to teach us how to read and write. He promoted another, too, to Master — Vargas, large, purple, with glowing-green eyes. Be careful of him like you would be of any of the others, please."

If Aure were still so comfortable with his magical capabilities, he might've put up a slideshow of these happenings and scrolled through them as he spoke.

"To keep all of us safe, though, Astraea would have us help him fight a golem that blocks a cave in Polaris to get to Draco. We fared... well, the last time we went to battle — but, I think now is as good a time as any to strive for improvement. We should know one another and our capabilities as best we can, even outside of fighting. Eythan —" a wing was outspread, indicating the gryphon "— can help with... physical combat maneuvers on the ground and in the air. All things to protect one another and Gembound with. I'll try to teach you all what I know about magic."

Speaking of — Aure gave a long-suffering sigh, "which is to say... not entirely much, right now." Honest. "I was in a chrysalis for the past few weeks after going to Polaris to investigate a... Place of Ascension with Damask. A large owl named Emuh made me take this test, and it wound up being near-lethal. I completed it, and Emuh took magic from me but left — something in its place. I'm not sure what it is, yet, but I'd like all of you to be wary. Try to know what you're getting into." What was it that Emuh had given him?

Bright eyes blinked, pausing. Back on track, the young King started with his suggestions, "with all of this training and change in the Caves, I think that we should delegate duties more to each of us? Training, caretaking, mapping, watching the health of others — things for us to focus on." His voice purely inquiring, gaze sweeping the crowd, "you know yourselves best, so... any ideas?"

Welcome to an unjustifiably late Bonebound meeting and my massive OOC notes section! Timeline-wise, this fits between Aure's post-transcendence emergence and the Fourth Olympics, so it's just a bit backdated.

The TL;DR of this post is a very brief recap of all that was discussed in Town Hall with a pretty heavy focus on the potentially upcoming fight against a guardian golem in Ursa to reopen some Quadrants. Aure wants the Bonebound to train in magic and combat so they can help with this. Also, he's announcing that there is a new Master (Vargas) and that they should all listen to him when called to action by him (but no bootlicking...)

Additionally, Aure explains his absence more formally by saying that he took a trial to Ascend — though, he's not sure what this means quite yet. Just to be careful and wary of that and the potential dangers of it.

Finally, at long last, the Bone King is delegating duties for different members of the Bonebound! This can range from training in different schools (magic, physical, other...) to craftsman-like jobs. It's up to each member to let him know what they'd like to do, since everybody knows themselves and their abilities best.

Aure's open to any questions, too, and this thread is labelled as all welcome for a reason... perhaps those refugees from the Trial of Darkness... ;) or just other miscellaneous Gembound looking to join the Bonebound! I just wrote all of this first post out so there's something to work with!

@Ashtoreth @Damask @/Eythan @Giggle @Ischium @Kerberos @Scarborough @Wilder ... and any others interested in spectating or joining the Bonebound!

Giggle did not sit by Aure's side, this time. She sat out at the edges, uncomfortable, unhappy. She had considered simply up and leaving to Monoceros, or one of the other dry caves; she hadn't decided against it, really, only reluctance keeping her here, for now. She felt more an outsider in her own home than she ever had... but for now she remained quiet, dutifully listening, ready to offer her part, whatever that might be. It occurred to her that she ought to ask the bones about leaving--they were never wrong. Were they?

Then again they'd been clear about Mother's fungus. Maybe she ought to go find that again, instead. Ah, but to the topic at hand: the Bonebound, a summary of recent news, a quiet plan for the future. She considered. And when the floor was opened for comments, she offered hers.

"The creature Vargas had his bones read," and for a moment Giggle wondered if this were some breach of trust, of bone-sanctity or some such. Mental shrug. "I remember that they said he would have a new start--maybe this 'master' business--and it wouldn't go well for him. That he'd have some bad realizations, maybe loss, and everything'd hinge on his family." She paused, briefly, thinking. "I've no advice on what to do with that information, but there you have it." She let out a short, sharp cackle, at this.

"Bone King, remind me to do a reading on the golem! I think there were enough big bad fighters there that none of ours should risk their lives up close and personal with a bear made of rock," and her tone here was dour; "I say let the big ones take the risk. They've a better chance, anyway." 'Let other Gembound die' wasn't exactly the nicest turn of phrase but it wasn't exactly what Giggle meant, either. To her it did make more sense for the giant dragons to fight the stone bear, instead of sending a small bird-hybrid after it. What could they even do against such a thing..?

To the Emuh thing she had little to say, though she eyed Aure curiously. She'd had no idea about the effects it had had. It was interesting... and worrying. A brief spark of magic as she observed: no, there was nothing... ongoing, at least. No crazy magic curse hung over Aure's head, threatening to snap down on him. That was... reassuring, sort of.

As to what Giggle could do, she said nothing. Her own role was clear and she had no intention of taking new ones on, not when her future here was uncertain to begin with.

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

The cry of the vulture-beast (Sora had yet to notice any particular canine influences in his form, but that was mostly because she was unfamiliar with vultures and hadn't bothered to get a particularly close look at Auré) roused Sora from where she'd been sitting with a clear view of the Hydra entrance to the cave. Nervous, to say the least. The Bonebound lived in this cave, and there were a lot of them... but they hadn't tried to evict her siblings or anything, and she had figured out pretty quickly that they were friendly.

The Bonebound had been strange, if kind, but Sora had more important things to be dealing with than cozying up to them. She wasn't one of their members and had no interest in being one of their members, not when she had her own family to deal with. But more importantly... you... are hideous. your form... has been... defiled. disgusting creature. The voice in her head sounded more like the Masked Merchant -- her siblings had noted that the quill-creature had called him by a proper name, Hag'erto -- by the day. Now, it was even doing that ridiculously pedantic slow-speaking-breathing thing. She was pretty sure he just did it on purpose to make others have to listen to him talk longer, and give them time to talk themselves out of socking him in the jaw. Not that she had hands to do any socking with.

Auré's cry, though. It roused her. Curiosity. She didn't bother fetching her family. The quill-monster and his brood had been keen on guarding their little cave like it held treasure, and even from here she could... well, she couldn't see them, not really, but with the echoing of Auré's call reverberating back into her massive ears, she could hear one of them, mostly. It was sitting at the entrance to this cave, and she hadn't seen anything go in or out since they had, so... she figured it was fine.

She trotted over and hung back. Caught sight of herself in a pool of water. Her blindness in one eye wasn't so frightening anymore, not with the addition of her great ears and long whiskers -- but Sora couldn't get over the fact that when she saw her reflection, she saw a stranger. Her body had been built for a very specific purpose, but now she'd been all but defiled. The voice was right, at least in this aspect. She hadn't agreed to any of this.

At the mention of Vargas and compliance, she bristled. "Really? She was never exactly one to be quiet. "We complied. We did everything we were told, and four of us died. Some safety that Vargas and the other Masters offer. Unless the Masked Merchant is somehow meaner than a thirteen-foot-long quill monster with more claws and teeth and eyes than any reasonable creature has the time to count, then I call bull. Sounds like this Astraea is a con-man."

pumpkin flew behind sora, sighing. he hated still following everyone around but he still loved them. he didn't know he could just leave and explore if he wanted.
not that he did, but... still. little adventurer needs to adventure eventually.

he perched on her back gently, listening to them. he didn't remember most of these names, didn't care to, and he could barely make most of them out at the moment anyway.

he just listened. he was silent when sora spoke up. but he was listening.

Morgan dragged herself after Sora, her paws scraping on the ground as she followed, her left hind leg still aching from where Alpha bit her in the ass. Jerkface... She hadn't slept a wink the night previous, or the night before that- she was running on less than fumes, and it showed. Deep bags under her eyes, a body that continuously shivered despite it being a decent temperature.

The darkness plagued her every thought, terrifying her so deeply that every instinct fired up at night, demanding that she stand vigilant, constantly pacing and checking over the others, panicking every now and then at a noise so far off that it couldn't possibly hurt them. Except it had, once. The baubles she insisted everyone keep had kept the dark at bay, but not enough for her to remain sane.

Her rump hit the ground as she sat down, all her energy directed to the facade she kept up, her head held high and her claws digging into the ground. She listened to Aure's speech, the words blending together as she struggled to focus. Sora seemed to catch on, and answered with an upset tone, for which she was grateful.

"What do we owe them?" she asked, her voice gruff from lack of sleep, "Though we may be biased, we still provide an ample warning that perhaps they only seek to use us and throw us away as if we're scraps of animal bones to be picked clean and disposed of. Everyone must be wary. If the boneseer suggests that Vargas may be... breeding, then we must be careful of him and whatever he's planning. It can't be good."

Morgan's distrust of everything and anything that wasn't her kin rang clear in her words. She barely even trusted the Bonebound right now, though she was too tired to outright say so. She just stuck close to Pumpkin and Sora for now.

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos was there in a heartbeat, settling down to lay among the rest of his family with all three heads at full attention for Aure. If it had been a long time since the last meeting, he certainly didn't realize. Last time, Aure had gotten attacked by a chicken, and frankly if Aure didn't want to hold public meetings after that, understandable. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, though!

The big lug stretched out his legs as he listened to Aure, eager and polite for all of it. A request for compliance and a promise for safety, both which felt strange. Maybe it would've made more sense if he had been there? But fighting a golem in a cave sounded exciting-- but dangerous-- and finally wrapped up the discussion with a question posed for the Bonebound. Delegating members to various tasks and the like. Giggle brought up a good point, too, not to send their own in against a danger that seemed rather optional and not a direct threat (unlike the Mother fungi business...) But really, Kerberos was fine with helping out in whatever way he could. If he was being honest, he'd much rather stick around and... well... Keep an eye on things here?

"I can help with practice!" Kerberos woofed, "I'm big and strong." Not necessarily the biggest fighter, really-- he definitely wasn't offering to fight a stone? bear or anything. Unless he needed to, of course.

... But after that, the strangers that had gathered (thankfully, no chickens this time) all began to peep up with their opinions on Vargas and the masters. Kerberos himself hadn't interacted with the Masters, though he was familiar with them... He had seen a few of the Sentinels, though again, had only really interacted with one. A big, hulky one, with spines and green eyes, just like Vargas.

So when Morganite spoke up, again addressing Vargas's breeding as though such a thing was bad, and a danger, Kerberos had to stop a growl in his throat. He immediately felt the urge to jump to the defense of Alpha-- a stranger, who he had really only met once-- who as far as he knew, had been a good sparring partner and a curious, but uncertain friend.

"His family," Kerberos woofed, shuffling himself up to sitting and making his height a bit more apparent, "can be good." Red eyes glanced from his own family, to the newcomers, to the distant tunnel where the Sentinels lived. "The bones know," he insisted, a bit quieter. "Maybe Vargas isn't good, but its not fair to put that on his kin. And if he has to count on them, then... We shouldn't be quick to judge those that might be good."

And, with all three heads, he wrapped up his little thesis statement, "... if you judge a thing by its claws teeth, and not by its ability to listen and think and change, then you will only know it by its claws and teeth." He dipped his heads down low, and shot a (rather shy) glance toward Giggle. Hopefully what he had said sounded smart. He was really trying. He didn't know much about the situation, but he didn't want... he didn't want everyone to start treating whatever looked like Vargas like a threat. Maybe it was something about the 'thirteen foot tall monster' bit, or maybe the fact he really liked what little he saw in Orthoclase-Alpha, but either way, he felt it important to say something.

... though, otherwise, he really didn't disagree that the Masters could be dangerous or bad. He really didn't know.

Ashtoreth had been there too, of course, but once again everyone was chattering on about stuff that--

Oh, Emuh. The noodle tilted her head, considering it. She had been thinking about the offer, off and on, but she hadn't... She hadn't actually gone back. She'd gotten past Orion a few times, but not much further. If Aure had taken it (and she noted, blandly, the suggestion that it had been near-fatal; he seemed perfectly fine, the loser--) and survived, then why hadn't she?

There was lots of yammering about all these others in the caves, and Ashtoreth was at least half-listening, enough to know she wanted nothing to do with any of it. She wasn't particularly close to the Bonebound besides Aure and Damask at this point, and even that was sort of at a distant 'cool half-sibling/aunt' distance that kept her relatively on the straight edge.

The thing was, she just didn't have anything to say. Like, literally.

And now, she was fully distracted by the thought of the trial Aure had took. Emuh had given him something for succeeding, but he didn't know what? It niggled its way into her brain and took hold, and from there, she decided that no matter what, she wasn't going to let Aure upstage her.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

Charles rode on Sora's back, still shaking violently from what had transpired in the tunnel behind them. He was still feeling the shivers of rage and terror, as he came to terms with the meaningless deaths and the truths of the trial while being ripped forcefully from his family, to fly above them where he couldn't protect them where they couldn't protect him.

But, most of all, he was reeling from his actions. Or, at least, what he'd tried to do. He'd tried to hurt Alpha, not in a physical, heal-able way that probably wouldn't have gotten past its armor, but in a deep, emotional way. The cruelest strike that he could imagine. And it terrified him, knowing that he had tried to do it. How could he even think of that?!

He listened halfheartedly to what this Bone King was speaking, the words making it into his head, but pulling no reaction from the bird. He barely even registered the fact that there was others around them. Not Masters or Overseers, not the other Champions that Charles now had a great dislike for, but real creatures, a family, gathered together. He was just so tired. Even if he'd been sleeping in his chrysalis for two weeks, the emotional toll of the day was just...massive.

Nemo

The lammergeier had been waiting to speak with... well someone of this group.

He'd been able to learn vaguely who was who as he had watched, keeping his distance and allowing the dust from the bones and cave to shadow his usually pristine white feathers to something more grey, his only bright points being the glowing bauble around his neck, and bright red eyes peering from his storm cloud dark brows.

Nemo had decided that he didn't like the gray, the dark he'd pulled into his feathers, and he wanted something more... catching there, but for now he accepts it, as he accepts the summons he barely hears across the cave.

Aure... right? was that his name? He's in charge, so I should go.

With that thought, he opens his wings and gets himself off the ground - not very high, but with a good deal more confidence and stability than he'd ever thought he would claim in the air again.

He lands on the outskirts of the gathered group with a scraping of claws on stone and bone, and he listens attentively as the others around him speak and respond to one another, to the one who had summoned him... and he finally pipes up.

"I offer my assistance as well, removing the golem of Draco. I'm not the most well versed in my own magic, but I can offer what I do have. I also have an... idea of sorts. For practice, anyhow. The golem cannot be the only thing of it's kind in the caves, and I think a good idea would be to seek out a smaller or slightly different one and see how it acts so that no-one here will be caught off guard."

this post is absolutely miserable and just about skippable. please don't feel obligated to read it.
damask has been laying low, lost in the crowd — very still, silent, blank-faced; that's all you need to know
ah, also, she's silenced and immobilized @Sora and @Morganite for the next round (up from just auré's post, unless they stay quiet)

here is control, and here's what it looks like: a monochrome ghost, lost in the crowd. seated, upright, tail-over-toes. silver eyes, sharp and unblinking; tufted ears, high and unmoving. face a study in steel and in stone.

she was being really good, see? typical damask, quietly attentive, exactly as you'd expect her to look — (stop,) be. the past few weeks had seen her on her best behavior. since his awakening, her father had needed extra support; hers was one of two shoulders to lean on, and part of the load was keeping him on task. that meant the meeting, first and foremost. it was long overdue, he'd been putting it off, and it needed to happen. brass-tacks facts. it'd be quick, easy, more about housekeeping than anything else; she had no good reason — (stop,) no reason (period) to dread it. besides, auré had given her a few days' notice, and ... not that she'd needed it, of course, but if she had, that should've — (stop,) would've helped. all she had to do was sit, watch, and listen. nothing at all to worry about.

(so how come you're this close to losing it, hm? kid?)

once again, nothing to worry about. (yeah, keep telling yourself that.) damask had arrived on the dot — slipped into the audience, tucked herself away — a peripheral smudge of black and white. she trained her sights on auré, and there they remained, even as a total of nine other spectators filed in. (he's out of focus. made the cast, but the spell backfired. gotta check in with him about that after.) enter speech, mostly recaps, no surprises. (note those cutoffs about the war ... selling himself short about his magic, his trial ... oh?, that's me, that's my name — ... but he could've omitted it, just as easy. omitted me. that's fine.) which led him to what really mattered:

"you all know yourselves best, so ... any ideas?"        "any ideas?"        "any ideas?"

ouch. (there. that's all it is.) ... deep breath ... (not like you didn't see it coming, so don't you dare break.) she didn't break. (you had an idea. now, you don't. you'll be anything your daddy wants you to be, get it?, and you're gonna like it. oh, you're gonna love it. you sorry piece of shit.)

a number of voices spoke up in succession. giggle with her bones and her logic; kerberos with his undying optimism; even the newcomer, nemo ... all three had smart, solid contributions. a little obvious, though, to her. nothing strong enough to keep her head in present tense. (don't) rewind three months, three weeks, three minutes. (don't) recall one word, a song alive in auré's mouth then and his mother's today — never, never in damask's. (don't) replay it over and over, (seriously, don't) play it back and back and back — (but it isn't YOURS, damask. don't PLAY with it, don't TOUCH it, don't even THINK about it.) all right. she wouldn't. ████, ████, ████. everything she wanted. everything she couldn't have. now, fast forward: the big tourists didn't even know the meaning of the word.

sora. morganite. those were their names. she'd seen them around, along with their siblings — all survivors, a bloodbath in hydra. these kindred spirits had really gone through it. exhaustion and tension rolled off them in waves. even here, damask could sense it, along with that instinct to figure it out and fix it; she felt for them ... but they were tight-knit, standoffish, with no plans of staying. sure, no problem. their being here was also not necessarily a problem. the bonebound took pride in their hospitality, and the other refugees in attendance — charles, pumpkin — were absolutely fine. what wasn't fine was a couple of tourists rolling up to their meet and starting a debate. as if auré hadn't seen what the masters could do — hadn't fought for the best deal they could get — hadn't made sacrifices for the sake of his family. as if these nobodies weren't talking to a ████.

damask inhaled and set her jaw. a little bit of air — that was all it took — and the jasper dagger threw a spark, biting at her lungs. it hurt — (and it shouldn't've; oh, man, was her chest really that tight? how long had it been like this?) (it's fine) ... but it worked, as strong a response as she could've hoped for. no need to turn, check she had the right spot; they'd made enough noise to give it away. the space between them, that was the ticket. hit 'em both at once. a moment's focus, and she crunched the air into an invisible fist: nothing that would hurt them or mess with their breathing, but it'd make it very difficult for them to move — their mouths, especially. a muzzle. no interruptions, no more disrespect. (tourists.)

her plan: silence them until auré was finished; ease up the spell a little, give them a chance; and, at the first sign that they wouldn't play nice, shut them back up. completely anonymous, as if the universe itself had intervened. somehow, it gave her the slightest reprieve — a target that wasn't between her own eyes. close on her father, just about to speak. she stayed with him. she'd been with him all along.