The sensation of warm acceptance flooded through her. It was something she hadn't felt in a long time, not like this--that feeling of family, and she was briefly overcome by the emotion as Kerberos smothered her with sloppy hellos.

"Hey!" she jokingly protested, breaking into loud, roughly-masculine laughter. "And what do you think you're doing, you big ruffian," but it was said with amused love, and followed by another nuzzle.

She stepped back to regard the child, again warmly, dark eyes half-squinted with approval. Ozzie's long "awEEEEEwoooWOOOOO" and following feathery shake had her laughing again. "They are just like a Bonebound, yeah," she agreed, and wondered at that. How many of the Aza'zel-birds had they had here, often unrelated..? Four, five? Perhaps they were drawn. Perhaps it was the old Bone King's spirit that drew them here--or created them. Aza'zel's spirit, floating around and spawning new children? It could be. Stranger things, and all that, she mused.

"I'd be happy to read the bones. Do you know your name, little one?" she added, gently and kindly, leaning in to offer it a nudge again. "I am Giggle; do you know who you are?"

She glanced to Kerberos, then. "If they'd like to stay, I'm sure they would be welcome. You'd have to find Aure; would you like him here for the reading?" she asked, tilting her head. It seemed only suitable that the Bone King be present, but perhaps not necessary? "I could send Omen to find him, if you like."

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

@Kerberos

Kerberos's tail wagging got only more vigorous with his mother's laughing agreement and approval. It was a good thing that the ground was deep, solid earth; but even then the force of his thumping tail was enough to make dust clouds kick up around his paws.

He listened patiently, eager to hear if the child had come up with a name yet; Kerberos wasn't certain that the little bird had the language capabilities since he had only just hatched, but it was exciting all the same. (Did Bones call himself bones because of the bones? What if the baby went by Bone, too? Would that be confusing? Maybe, but Kerberos thought it'd be cute!)

Giggle mentioned Aure next, which made his ears prick. "Yeah, of course!" The central head woofed, almost dislodging the baby bird with a sudden jerk upward. His other two heads enveloped either side of the lammegier, carefully keeping him safe and sound. Kerberos really liked Aure, like, a lot, and since he was in charge of the Bonebound, it made lots of sense for him to be here for this.

"Could Omen go? We can wait... Oh, oh, maybe he can pick out a special bone while we wait? How does this work?" It was, after all, Kerberos's first chance at a newborn's first-reading, and boy. He could not be more excited.

@Ozzie

the little bird seemed to squawk in surprise as it was nearly thrown off, but cooed happily as it was held in place, patting the 2 heads happily.

it thought for a moment. name? name? what was a name? was it like calling the hyena giggle, or mom? it liked that! it wanted a name! then it could also be called out!

"ooo.... os.. ozzzzzz... ozzee... ozzie!" it babbled, making random noises until something stuck.
he was excited. he had a name now! and it sounded like more people were coming! this was so cool!

@Giggle

For a moment the hyena paused, and for those who didn't know her it might have looked as though she'd just... shut off. She stared off at nothing, silent.

In reality, she was reaching out to Omen, through their link. Sending her an image of Aure, and words: Sister-Daughter, can you find Aure? Ask him to 'come to Giggle?' 'Come to the bones?'

The response was nothing in words--garbled pictures and emotions--but Giggle's mind parsed it into vague thought nonetheless. YES! Aure! Bones! Yes! Giggle! A moment later the distant, raucous voice could be heard ringing over the bones as Omen began her circling cries: 'AURE! AURE! BONES! AURE! AUR-BONES! GIGGLE! COME BONES!' and so forth. She didn't quite understand the words, but she could reproduce them, and Giggle hoped the garbled message would be clear enough to make some sense.

She turned her attention back to Kerberos and... Ozzie? -and smiled. Heart: warmed, yet again. "Ozzie, huh? A good name. I like that name. And sure, he can pick a bone; that's a good idea, Kerberos," she told her big, white, three-headed 'son,' with a happy expression. It was good to just have... a sense of family, again. She turned, pacing to the bone pit's edge.

"Let him in with the bones, for a moment--don't eat these, they're old and dry, no good to eat!" she warned, with a glance back at Ozzie, remembering lammergeiers' penchant for gulping down bones whole. "We'll see if he gets attached to one, but we'll wait for Aure before making it a Bonebound reading, yeah? Gotta do things right, Bone King and all."

She nodded to the pit. "Go on and play, Ozzie!" she encouraged--and then cast a softer glance to Kerberos. She saw him, every now and again, but they hadn't had much chance to talk. "So--how've you been?"

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

@Kerberos @Aure ?

The young King'd been practicing with his magic when Omen swept near. His ears pricked towards her cries first, then he twisted to try and catch sight of her. Her raucous cries were a garbled mess of the same few words, but Aure put two and two together: come to the bone pit. Heard loud and clear.

Aure nudged his work once or twice, then took to wing with a call towards "Omen, thank you." The hybrid wasn't sure if she understood the concept of IOUs, but she offered one anyways, "I'll catch a rat and let you have it all to yourself." He flew beneath the Caller, and right for the bone pit. It wasn't terribly far; he'd arrived maybe five minutes after the familiar was sent out.

Taking a few gliding circles to spiral down to the ground, the young King instinctively checked for fungal growth that otherwise shouldn't be - especially on the fuzzy little thing near Kerberos, making a ruckus in the bones. Nothing came up save for the usual amount clinging to his mother, and he made a chirping descent. A step into the landing Aure glanced down at the stranger new hatch. A baby. He didn't even have to sniff to smell the newness on them.

But - ! Greetings first! The hybrid trotted towards Giggle first, sticking his beak out for the obligatory nuzzle and shoulder-bump of acknowledgement. "Hey, Mom - you called?" Aure smiled. Then, he went for Kerberos, stretching himself up as far as he could for a solitary nudge. Finally, to the baby - "where'd you find this little one?"

@Kerberos

Ozzie? OZZIE? It was such a perfect name for the fluffball! "Welcome, Ozzie, welcome to the Bonebound!" Kerberos grumbled deep in his chest with pride, wiggling him back and forth between the two heads. A moment later, Giggle agreed that it was a good name. This was absolutely, completely, perfectly wonderful!

With permission to bring Ozzie to the bones to pick one out, he quickly scrambled up to his hefty paws and brought the lammergeier down into the pit of bones, lowering his middle head all the way down so that Ozzie could climb down off his nose and find the perfect bone. "Go pick a bone, we're gonna throw it into the bones and then mom's gonna read it. You'll see, it's awesome!" His tail wagged high in the air like a banner, and he rose back up to his feet as Giggle asked how he had been.

Kerberos tilted two of his heads at her (the other, still watching Ozzie bumble about in the bone pit). One set of jaws opened to pant, and the remaining head answered. "I've been good... I've been meaning to tell you something, too. I tried asking the bones about it, myself, but the answer I got was..."

Well, the fact of the matter was that he couldn't read the bones like his mom. Aure flighted down on those big, black wings and his heads perked up, all three swinging to face the Bone King. The thought, however important or not, was immediately lost. "He just hatched! Here in Canis!" He announced, "can we keep him?" Because the Bone King did get the final say, and all.

@Ozzie

he made some more happy babbling sounds at the new bird friend, looking around, playing in the bones, until he was once again picked up and dumped into MORE BONES!!! HOW FUN!!!

he looked around, being told to "pick a bone" and so he looked at all the cool, epic bones.

he shuffled around, looking at one specifically interesting to him. he wobbled over to it.

and licked it.

he immediately pulled his head back, babbling in shock and betrayal, trying to get the dust off but only coating the rest of his mouth in it. "AAAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed.

pausing, he looked back at it, picking it up and bring it over. "BONE! MY BONE!"

@Giggle @Aure @Kerberos

Giggle gave Aure a nod and a smile as he came in, a nudge back, a friendly shoulder-bump. Omen fluttered down to land back beside her. Before she could answer where they'd 'found' the child, Kerberos responded--and his 'can we keep him?' had her bursting into laughter.

"That's--what we called you to ask, yeah. Kerberos found him--fresh hatch, as he said. We're wondering if you'd accept him into the Bonebound, and I could do a reading?" She nodded to Kerberos. "I think Kerberos' taken him under his, well. Wing, but not wing." Kerb calling her "mom" had her warm and beaming. He called her Giggle by direct address, but somehow hearing that from his mouth (any of his mouths, really) was warming.

His mention of a question for the bones had her interested, and while he immediately seemed to forget, she did not. Kerberos rarely asked for anything, and she didn't take it lightly. "Don't forget whatever you were about to ask, Kerberos. Let me know, once we're done, yeah? I'll ask the bones anything you like."

She nodded down to Ozzie, then, inspecting his choice of bone, and stepped forward. But she didn't take it--not yet--instead looking to Aure, first, for confirmation. "He calls himself Ozzie. So, what do you think-?"

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

@Aure

Hatched in Canis - of course - and... Aure had to laugh a bit. "Can we keep him?" he echoed, glancing over at his mother with a slight smile. "Of course we can." Bright eyes glanced down at the lammergeier picking through the bones, "who would we be to refuse him?" Little Ozzie was part of the family, screams and all. Another Bonebound, at least for now.

Perhaps... Damask could mentor him? His smile tightened a bit. ... maybe when he's a bit older. Kids mellowed out with age. The three of them standing here would be good for now. Aure's ears pricked and he grinned, now - "of course, a bone reading's just fine."

Ozzie came over, bone in tow, and the young King offered a gentle, "that's a good bone, Ozzie."

@Kerberos

"Okay! Thanks!" Kerberos woofed to Giggle, tail thumping. He might need a reminder to actually ask the bones, but he definitely wouldn't forget what he needed to ask. Two heads turned to Aure while the last watched Ozzie select a bone.

Kerberos had never really know what it was like to be a proud father-- there had been the fragmented stones he had revived after murdering Bevy (best not to dwell on that) but he never got the chance to really bond with any of what came from that-- but if he had to guess, watching Ozzie lick a bone, screech, and then claim it, filled him with what he could only imagine was fatherly pride.

He definitely wasn't Ozzie's dad, but Giggle was his mom, so who was to say he wasn't Ozzie's dad? The thought made his heads tilt, but his paws trotted in place with excitement when Aure okayed the bone reading and approved of Ozzie's bone.

"Yes! Okay, Ozzie," the hound crouched low to the ground, "Let Grandma Giggle see your bone. She's gonna do the reading with it."

@Ozzie