I got me a future; I'm not stuck on the past

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Giggle had guests!

The Bonebound-- Canis as a whole-- could be really quiet, but today, Giggle had guests! She had basically opened up shop for everybody all over the caves to come and get their fortunes read, which meant that everybody who was anybody was going to come around. Giggle was never wrong, and full of infinite wisdom, and she could talk to the bones like no one else.

Kerberos, naturally, was incredibly excited. He had run off to go hunting, to bring back snacks for his adopted mother and all of her guests. It was a big job and a very, very, very important secret mission. This did involve running around chasing all sorts of deer, rats, and rabbits until eventually the big lug was much too tired to do anything but reluctantly sulk home.

He didn't want to miss out on the show, after all. It was always fun to meet new people, and-- oh, Giggle had so many guests! Snake tail wriggling into a frantic wave behind him like a banner, the front-heavy dog broke into a gallop across the cave of bones. Thump, thump, thump, thump--!

Leaning back to slide into a dramatic stop before he ran over the slowly growing crowd, his three maws gave big, huge, slobbery grins.

"Giggle! Sorry I'm late!" Not that he had informed her that he was coming, "was gonna bring some snacks, but--" his heads spoke over each other, "My name's Kerberos! Hello!!"

Arcturus took a moment to look over the hyena that seemed to be the center of attention here. How interesting she looked! Painted with strange markings, as if skeletal, and many adornments hung from her neck and limbs, made of bones and fibers and glowing lights. He felt oddly humbled in her presence - this here was a gembound that had seen a lot - perhaps too much - and she was far older and wiser then he could ever hope to be. He hadn't yet met someone like her and found himself robbed of his voice for a moment.

And it only took that moment of silence for another stranger to barge in - louder then any of the others, more boisterous, and with not one, not two, but three snapping heads, none of which, thankfully, seemed particularly aggressive at the moment, but it still made Arcturus flinch out of instinct. He recovered himself a moment later and returned the beast's grin with one of his own. "Hello, Kerberos! I'm Arcturus!"

He turned his eyes back to the hyena - Giggle, was what the three-headed dog had called her. "Um, what would I ask? I don't know, I've never thought about that before." His tail moved slowly behind him as he wracked his brain, trying to scrounge up a question quickly. "I guess just. What's coming for me? Should I be prepared for anything?" It was the best he had when he wanted for little.

@Giggle

Kerberos's entry had Giggle deeply amused. It was both the best and worst possible way to affect her whole theatrical getup: a three-headed, scarred, massive beast bounding in but with a goofy, happy, familial greeting. But even if he'd been a roly-poly puppy she'd never have been mad for him crashing her party, if even he did; she was perfectly glad to see him, and happy he was there.

Before she could give him a proper greeting, the stranger--Arcturus--introduced himself. And Giggle was relieved and pleased to find that he was polite, rather than stiffly Cat. She paced over to give Kerberos a friendly nuzzle--one for each head, of course, motherly and loving. "We'll get snacks later, if you want, but thanks for the thought!" she told him; "-and welcome back to the BONE PIT." This was delivered with a dark-eyed wink and more amusement than mock-drama, this time.

Arcturus's question had her tilting her head as she moved back to the pit to choose a bone. "A good question! A wise question, to ask what to be prepared for! Some want to change their fate entirely, but it's not so easy as that. Preparation--that is wisdom." She nodded to herself, actually meaning this little bit of wavering-voiced shaman's advice. She fired a glance to the cloud-wreathed creature, eyeing the stars that seemed to glint in his mane and the wings that ran with the colors of flame, and considered. There weren't very many bones that'd remind her of such completely alien beauty; bones were hard and whitish, and that was that.

With a mental shrug, though no less deliberation than usual, she selected one: a large bone, but slender, with an unusual curve she hadn't ever been able to identify. It had some kind of weird, bright green stone embedded in it, which while not matching Arcturus was certainly colorful.

Gripping this in her teeth, Giggle made her way to the bone pit's ledge, and there she stood, a beat, staring down. It probably looked dramatic, and in her mind, she was reciting his question to the bones: Bones, what does the future hold for this one--for Arcturus? This cat that looks like he's wrapped in red smoke. What should he prepare for? -If anything? Then she lobbed it down, so that it fell into the pit with a clatter; and she considered how it fell.

The result was... not a good one; the way it fell and stuck, at first, to tumble farther alone and covered by other bones, the way a small piece chipped off and left it damaged but no closer to the rest. The reading, in fact, rather dampened the whole 'mystical theater' thing she was putting on, and Giggle struggled to frame it in a positive light. She stood pensive for a moment, scouring the bones for any signs she might have missed, but--no; nothing.

"I see a complicated future for you, Arcturus," she began, careful in her phrasing. "I see... stagnation for you now. Things unchanging, a life you will need to work to renew. Fate holds nothing, at first, and that is a silence you will have to choose to break! But I see other things," she went on, "in the bones."

Shit.

"I see loss. One thing, parted from another. It may be a prized possession, something you value very deeply--or it might be family. A child, split from its parents, perhaps. And I see another form of loss: a failure, a pointless sacrifice or a fight fought for nothing. My advice, the bones' advice, on what to be prepared for..?" She lifted her eyes to Arcturus, trying to seem mysterious and all-knowing, and instead feeling sort of bad for the cloudy creature. This wasn't the sort of news she liked delivering. Focus on the flip side... give advice to make it better. He asked how to be prepared, right? "Push to change your life; push to make things better. Be careful what you give away, and what you fight for--and cherish whatever you have, in case it is lost." If it wasn't already.

"Do you have any other questions for the bones?"

@Arcturus @Kerberos

I got me a future; I'm not stuck on the past

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Arcturus! The strange, nebulous individual reminded Kerberos of a distant memory; a little bundle of snow white fur, fragile and worth protecting. His heads contemplated that privately, while outwardly his whole body wriggled with hyper energy barely, politely contained.

Kerberos beamed at his mother's patient, wise answer, and he nodded his center head while the right reached down to give her a big, slobbery lick across the top of her stiff, painted mane.

Giggle moved on to read the bones in response to Arcturus's question, and the big lug listened intently. He tilted his head as she paused, noticing her almost hesitation-- only because he knew her so well, and it seemed like it was taking a bit longer than normal to say something. She spoke carefully, and that made Kerberos's wagging tail slow to a steady, calm swish-swish back and forth behind him.

His mother was never wrong. The bones rolled true, time and time again, which meant that Arcturus had a difficult time coming for him. Kerberos almost spoke up, to offer aid if the curious creature needed it-- at the very least, to promise that Canis would be a safe haven for Arcturus if he ever needed it to be...

"... if--" .. and right as one mouth opened, Giggle asked if there were another other questions for the bones, and his other head snapped up with an eager woof.

"Giggle! Giggle! Do the bones think I can help Arcturus?" He asked with all sorts of hopefulness to his tone. "That is... I'd like to help," his middle head attempted to amend, offering their visitor a warm look behind his scarred visage.