She watched, respectful--even reverent--as the memories flashed through her mind.

She could not help but feel that vicarious fear; the strange sensation of feeling another's distant terror was not unknown to her. It was a magic that spanned time, space, and granted her a glimpse of a reality--not a memory, in her mind, but a window into a truth--not her own.

When it was over, Giggle sat back. She kept her eyes closed, running the memory over in her mind, trying to calm her now-racing heart. Outwardly, she looked calm; and when she opened her eyes a moment later and spoke, she seemed only solemn, even sad.

"The bone has spoken to me," she said quietly. "It died hunted, as did so many of these bones." Dark eyes cast a sad, grim glance around. "But... it was not alone, in the end, at least. It had companions. Not all of them did. It wasn't alone, in the end."

Not that this saved it, she thought. But it isn't a kindness that everyone gets. She hoped it hadn't had to watch its allies killed... but if it had, the bone had not shown her this, and she'd respect that decision. What was important to it (to the hyena's belief, at least) was that it had died in fear--but not alone. It had not died alone.

Perhaps... it had even died to save the smaller being alongside it. Giggle touched a paw to the skull, respectfully, and then pulled away again--silent.

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@Nemo

Nemo

He remains quiet- pulling himself together and accepting the physical comfort when offered, chirping a bit in his chest as well as a murder muppet can, and then stepping back to allow her to nose at the bone he had... spoken to, and he awaits her verdict.

The blue raptor stews on what he'd been told about the bones Giggle had already spoken to, the existence of Canis taking on a new, more sinister feeling to him. Evidence of a great evil, a great slaughter. Battle would be too kind a word. Her comment about new life, though, starts a gleam in his eye... new life. Another chance.

That's something he can get behind.

Giggle's comment on it not being alone in it's final moment makes him duck his head, almost pensive as he stares into the eyes of the skull they'd spoken to. "Wh... when I used my magic, when I looked, they were executed. Pinned down and almost... mocked for their desire to live. Whoever did all this killing must have ben a special kind of cruel. Even when I hunt, I'm quick and clean. I..." he seems a bit ill, to be quite honest, a new image in his mind of this creature hiding with loved ones, with newly hatched family.

He brushes a wing over the skull, after stepping close, like brushing away dust and dirt from his workspace with a keen eye. "I'm... honored to be apart of the Bonebound. Accepted here enough to feel that magic." He needs to take a deep breath, to put together what he wants to say next in a way he'll be happy with. "Maybe we see these things so that we can avoid them ever happening again? Or maybe there's no reason. But I think we have an obligation to offer them something, like you said. But... new life? I'm not sure what you mean by that. Not entirely."

@Giggle

Giggle gave a soft snort of amusement.

In any other world--though of course she didn't know this--this conversation with this poor bird would have begun, "when a mommy beast and a daddy beast love each other very much..." But, thankfully for both of them, this place was rocks and magic and little more.

"Our stones hold our magic. Some of them hold magic even after we die," she explained, slowly--doing the best job she could. Even she didn't know all the ins and outs of it, though she'd gotten a pretty good grasp after her first litter. "I don't know if you've met my kids-? Vinea, Serek, Skeena--I know you've met Aure--and Enoki, Bayo, Chitin..? Aure's was the stone of the last Bone King and my very good friend, Aza'zel. But the rest were stones taken from the bones, here," she added, with a nod around.

"I looked for those I could still sense magic in. It's my way of... saying thank you. Of giving something back to those who guide us: I return them to the world of the living, for a time. As best I can, anyway. I don't think their forms are the same: they all look a little like me. Spots, reddish fur usually, stuff like that--but they vary, otherwise. I think the other half's always what the other parent was. The stone's last owner. Aure's got Aza'zel's wings, his face, things like that--you see? Of course, that makes me wonder who you were. Aza'zel, you--a couple other birds I've seen--you all looked identical. Did you come from the same place..? I've never been sure."

She shook her head, and shrugged, and then offered up a little honesty. "If you wanted to know more about how it all works you could maybe ask one of the Masters. Just don't trust them to tell you the truth. But I don't know it all--none of us do. We're guessing as we go along... but when I have more energy to do it, I'll bring more of these stones to life," she finished, reaching out a paw to gently touch the skull again, almost affectionately.

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@Nemo

Nemo

Nemo knew enough of reproduction that the beginning wasn't completely foreign to him, and he nods along, thankfully not... completely flustered at the whole thing. Yes, Giggle's amusement is a bit of a clip to the ego, but he knows she means nothing by it, and, given what she tells him, it is kind of funny to see that he's so far out of the loop.

Every name gets a nod from him, as he tries to remember the faces tied to them. Her mention of Aure's stone giver makes him blink and glance to the side and down, as if he's remembering what she's said about himself and connecting a few dots, and he... doesn't know how to feel about the revelation. A bit of weight settles on his wings, really, but nothing cruel or too much... just more like a comforting blanket as he realizes he's not completely alone.

"I wasn't aware that stones from the dead could be... given new life. I thought it only worked on stones from living donors. But that would explain one of the strange pearls I've found. I'm oddly attached to it. Maybe it's still alive, inside." He's half asking, half thinking out loud, but he starts to crinkle his face further in thought. Well, as far as a beak and feather covered face could. "I can say that I hatched in the room on winds, in the basin of the everlasting storm in Monoceros. My chrysalis was polished smooth, but I was fine. I met another bird when I hatched, but he's... gone, for now. I was drawn to you guys because I wanted some answers myself about where I really came from, and the why."

Nemo offers a half open beak of a smile, looking up at Giggle from his bowed head as he adds a humorous, "At least I know I'm not completely out of my skull for thinking like this." the mention of Masters has him tilting his head in confusion, but hen he remembers the meeting he'd seen the Bonebound at for the first time... and promptly decides that he's NOT going to ask the massive monster for any information on this... not any time soon, at least. "Is it... bad that its kind of comforting to have this magic? Terrible sights aside? I mean," he almost stumbles over himself, flailing one wing in a rolling motion and worrying his bauble with the other as he glances at the skull under Giggle's paw, "On the one wing... paw, I guess, its terrible to know and feel things like that. On the other, its nice to know that we aren't the first ones here, and that this has all sort of been... done before."


@Giggle

'I wasn't aware that stones from the dead could be... given new life.' Giggle waited, and when Nemo finished speaking she dipped into the smallest bit of detail--just in case he didn't know. "Yeah. Like the... donated ones, like you say? You just have to push some of your own magic, your own power, into it. A little bit of your own essence, I think. It weakens you for awhile after, and the kids always seem to get your own magic--fungus, for me. All my kids make mushrooms. Or maybe that's just because it's what I teach them," she added, with a little laugh.

'I hatched in the room on winds, in the basin of the everlasting storm in Monoceros. My chrysalis was polished smooth...' To this, Giggle listened with heightened interest, rounded ears pressed forward to catch every word. Her brow drew down in concentration. Surely such a birth was portentous..? A bird hatched beneath a storm, beneath those sweeping winds; and such was Nemo's magic. Like Aza'zel's had been: the same shape, the same magic. The roaring gale and the gentle breeze; a mercurial creature one moment elated, and the next plummeting to earth--Ahh, Giggs, not exactly the best fucking mental metaphor. Stop, she told herself, and quickly turned her mind away.

But it was true, wasn't it? It seemed to be the magic of those with swiftly-drifting moods. Nemo was steady, so far. A quiet wind, unchanging, undramatic. But would he stay this way? "This is going to sound strange," she started, somewhat slowly, "but a couple of those I've met with your magic have taken things pretty hard when they go bad. And you say you were hatched beneath that storm, which makes me wonder if it's meant to be that way. I don't know if it's true for you but let me just say, if you ever need to talk? I'm here, I'll listen. Okay?" No more repeats of a friend thinking themselves alone.

And make no mistake, Giggle wasn't seeing Aza'zel in this blue mirror of him now. She could see Nemo for what he was; a wholly new personality and creature. But experience with the one had granted her clarity for the other, and her offer was given honestly and without illusion.

Nemo had spoken of the ones who'd come before, and Giggle now turned, casting a solemn glance over the bones. "Is it... Comforting?" she asked, thoughtfully parroting the question as she looked them over. She considered it closely before responding, dark eyes lingering on this femur or that rib. "It's comforting to know we're not without guidance, I think, yeah. That someone out there wants us to succeed. But it's worrying to know that they failed. Someone did wrong by them, Nemo. Someone slaughtered them, and it worries me that they might help us because maybe they want us to avoid the same fate. And are we going to manage..?" Her gaze swept solemnly back to the lammergeier. "That much, I don't know. We can try to gather as much information from them, as much guidance, as we can. If this has all been done before, I sure don't want to end up like this," she added wryly, tossing her head out to indicate the scattered bones.

"Nothing wrong with becoming bones, mind you. Guiding the next generation and all that. But someone left these here without caring for them at all, and that, uh. That's not a good sign," and this last was offered with a perked brow and wry humor. She shook her head a little, and pushed up onto all fours.

"Anyway, you've got an old dog hungry," she said, despite certainly not being a dog; "You can stay here and I'll be back, or you can come with me, but I gotta hunt. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about, though, before I go? I'm not trying to rush you off, either," she said, quite seriously.

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@Nemo

Nemo

The blue raptor nods along attentively, pausing as he thinks over all the different shapes he's seen in the caves, and now starting to wonder how many of them have only one living donor, and it almost makes him sad. He twitches his tail to feel at his stone, wondering if he could attempt that type of donation with some stones and other things he's found. Nemo feels the feathers on his face puff out in a pleased gesture at the idea of some being half him, and all potential with the same magic that runs around his wings... but hopefully better luck.

But, her sudden attention and comments on his birth brings back some of his old concerns, and curiosities... and insecurities. Old failures... but he offers his smile, and a very genuine, "Thank you for the offer, Giggle. I'll keep that in mind. If.. you ever need to talk, or to have someone distract you, I offer the same. Okay?"

He nods along, gaze serious as she talks about the wrongs done upon the past, and he glances down at the bones, feeling... slightly uncomfortable with the fact that he eats bones for the first time, and happily, only for a fleeting moment as Giggle mentions hunting.

"May I, uh, hunt with you as well? I haven't eaten since the lights came up, myself... I sort of worried myself into a tizzy before coming over to you," he laughs, scrubbing at the side of his head with one wrist joint in embarrassment. "I also feel like I owe you some ligher topics, so I've got some questions about your mushrooms, too."

@Giggle

Nemo's offer earned a warm glance. She was unaware of his more visceral thoughts regarding food and bones, but it wouldn't have mattered if she had known. "Thanks. I'll bear it in mind," she assured him.

Giggle headed out, at an easy lope. "Sure, come with me. Talk while we walk, eh? What kind of questions did you have?"

Her question was idle, friendly. She was obviously open to further conversation, to chit-chat, and the sound of her paws scratching over stone was not loud enough to interrupt.

As she made her way down the slope, she tried to push her senses out into the fungus--to let her mind bleed into the mycelial networks of Canis in an attempt to search out prey. This backfired rather spectacularly, at least to her perception: the entire cave went 'dark,' a confusing susurrus of... nothing? How could nothing make sound? Darkness flashed here and there in her vision, and she slowed and then stopped, sitting down uneasily. "My magic's being an asshole, but go on," she said, studying the caves from what felt like a thousand directions at once as they seemed to melt and twist around her. The vision was overwhelming, and entirely unhelpful, and she swayed a little as she struggled to keep her head.

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@Nemo

Nemo

Following as best he can on his feet, he strides after, not truly willing to take to the skies if he's going to talk to Giggle, since too much noise would scare away any food they may get their collective claws on. He honestly might look a bit funny the way he walks, foot over foot and head bobbing every so often as he fixed his balance, bauble dancing merrily under his chest as he does so.

"I was wondering what kinds of mushrooms you grow. I mean, I've seen the glowing ones, and noticed some of the darker ones leave stains on stones like my berries and dyes do, so I'm wondering what you grow them for other than light and possible company." He's keeping his voice low, and talking with one wing as he trtos along, having to hop occasionally to keep up with Giggle's pace.

Her sudden pause, and subsequent apology for her magic, gets a sympathetic wince from him. "Hey, it's alright, at least yours doesn't throw you into walls on a regular basis. Take it easy..." Nemo sort of frets, before stretching his legs and peeking around. "I'll go take a look around, myself. I'll be right back alright?"

@Giggle

Giggle glanced at Nemo, and faint humor flickered over her. Her vision was returning, if slowly. And hell, "funny" was always good--even though this'd leave her coat a mess.

"Well," she began, her tone already amused, "one use is this." The hyena maintained eye contact as black, dripping, ichorous fungus suddenly plumed out all over her fur with little squelch sounds. Then she stood there, a moment, before chuckling. "It's disgusting, but that's the point; anything trying to bite me is gonna get a mouthful of that shit. It's sticky, too. Goopy," she explained. "Makes it hard to get a grip. Other than that? Some are edible. Some make things hallucinate. Useful for defense," she went on, and then dropped onto her haunches and nodded out over Canis.

"Some smell really great, like meat, but they taste like crap, so they're a sort of lure and defense of their own if you get creative. Some spores make others like you more--no, that's not right... they're calming, I guess. Good way to stop an attacker. I can try to teach you these, share the spores, but--yeah, go on; do whatever you're doing, first. I'll wait," she added, and with amusement she scratched off a goopy bit of black fungus--which landed on the rock with a wet slap.

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@Nemo

Nemo would pick up--by hearing or sight, or magic sense--the presence of a Frilled Chaser sunning itself on a rock nearby. It lay silent, eyes half-lidded, soaking in Canis's meagre light.

They weren't quite in full view of it yet--only a glimpse--and approach would need to be precise; these creatures were capable of remarkable bursts of speed, and the ability to hide in the narrowest of rocky crevices. It was only around a foot long, plus the tail--a small thing, but a snack, at the very least.

@Nemo