The pup smiled faintly at the praise, a bit bewildered that they’d manage to track down the den themself. The noises faded, but they didn’t know where they had come from in the first year place. What had they done, and could they do it again?

Following his word, the little one crept forward to circle the den. They followed Bayo’s gait, slow and calculating. Her’s need some more practice, but she did well enough not to alert the rabbits early.

The coyena pounced, sending bones and small mammals skittering away from the point of impact. As the rabbits raced past them, hunter instinct caused them to react reflexively, shooting dark jaws towards the nearest critter. They did not realise Bayo had already caught one, the scent of blood only encouraging them to seek a kill of their own.

All that their jaws met was air as they snapped shut, quarry getting away from them. Oh well, it’d been a shot in the dark anyways. Her attention returned to the other hyena, who spat out his kill at his feet. They [plural] had got one! The girl trotted over with wagging tail to observe the kill, staring at the corpse with interest and hunger. “Eat it?” They were practically drooling over the body.

@Bayo

Bayo watched the pup try and snap for the rabbits, pitying her for a moment. It took a long time to catch a rabbit, even the smallest mice having evaded his grasp when he was that young. He winced and lifted a paw to his nose, remembering one such mouse that had even fought back, leaving the tiniest scar on his poor sniffer.

"Go on, eat up!" he said, nudging the rabbit towards the hungry pup. "S'all yours, I ate already, so I ain't hungry."

He dug a hole in the ground and lay down on top of it, his gemstone sticking down into the hole and allowing him to lay comfortably on his belly. His ears were pricked up in interest as he dragged a bone towards himself and began to gnaw on it, though the marrow had long since rotted away. Still good to chew on, though.

@Relic

As soon as he gave permission, the little carnivore surging forward to feast like an overgrown, wobbly piranha. Blood had already been spilled, the scent of it as it oozed across the cavern floor sending the beast into a frenzy. The pup tore at it eagerly, bite surprisingly strong given their physical immaturity. They weren't a connoisseur and they never would be, meat being a universal good in their life, but something about this flesh tasted that little bit better.

They sat in [relative] silence for a while, Bayo gnawing on a bone an the pup ripping into their meal. They slowed their pace as the frenzy faded, still hungry, just less violent about it. She got around halfway through their meal, rabbit now a mass of bone and bare bloody meat, before asking “Who’s Giggle?” They meant ‘what’s Giggle like’ more specifically, but complex sentences were beyond her at the moment.

@Bayo

Bayo didn't mind the ravenousness. He himself had experienced many a hunt that lead to a ferocious feast and so understood the hunger the pup probably felt. Rabbit was his favorite, though. Maybe it was his coyote blood, but there was nothing like a good, sweet rabbit to dig into when he was famished.

"Giggle's my mama! An' a mama happens when somebody wants t' have a kiddo who's all their own. I reckon y'came from some stone in th' ground, but my mama had a buncha stones she put magic into. Includin' this one!" he said, rolling onto his side to expose his gemstone. "So she made me an' my siblin's. But anyway, my mama's the best, really. She's got a great laugh and a greater sense o' humor, which means she's funny. An' then she taught me all I know! She knows a lot, more than I do fer sure."

His tail flopped happily as he spoke of his mother, a fond grin on his face.

"Her cuddles are th' best though. So warm and nice when it gets cold at night. An' she always feels safe, like nothin'll happen to me when she's around," he said with a happy sigh.

@Relic

The pup sat and ate, thoughtful expression on their face as they listened to Bayo speak. He spoke of mothers and the girl paused lifted a paw to their speckled gemstone on their face, as the other hyena showed his. How strange would it be, they wondered, to be created with intent.

As they resumed eating they tried to visualise the person Bayo described. They way he described her, she sounded like best person in the world. They felt a longing, coming from old instinct, echoes of the sacred bond between parent and child. “Can I… Meet her?” They asked, voice quiet, unsure.

@Bayo

"Heck yeah y'can meet my mama," Bayo said, leaping to his feet. "She prolly ain't far, she keeps 'round th' bone pit usually!"

He yapped happily and bolted off a few feet before turning around and looking at Relic, tail wagging a mile a minute. "Follow me! I bet she'll love t' meetcha!"

And with that he trotted off, though he made sure the pup could keep up easily. He would stop and wait if she lagged, making sure his excitement didn't mean he accidentally left her behind. Now that wouldn't be very good of him.

@Relic

The response was a resounding yes, and the pup could almost meet Bayo’s enthusiasm this time as she rose to her feet again. She didn’t quite leap, but the enthusiasm was present.

They moved to follow him, but looked back a moment at the half eaten rabbit they were about to leave, unsure of what to do. Luckily, there was a freshly dug bit pre-made [the one Bayo had dug to sit comfortably], and following their instincts they deposited the kill and kicked dust over it. The hole was shallow, and wouldn’t do much to hide it from hungry scavengers, but it was ok for a first.

They only took a few minutes with the task, moving back to follow Bayo to giggle in leaps and bounds, slowing to meet his trot as they started moving. She’d follow him to the bone pits, tail wagging in her anxiety.

@Bayo

Bayo barked out happily once they reached the pits, taking off into a fit of excited zoomies. He stopped and shook himself off, relieving himself of the stress that had built up with his excitement.

"Mama!!" he called out, trotting around in a wide circle as he craned his head to try and see her. "Mama, I'm home!! An' I brought someone with me!"

He came to a stop and sniffed at the air, trying to find the familiar scent of his beloved mother. He glanced at the pup, making sure she was still close before calling out again, louder this time, his tail wagging so fast it was nearly a blur behind him.

"She'll be here soon," he assured his companion, glancing back and offering a grin, his tongue rolling out of his mouth as he cocked his head, his hat flopping over his eyes. He pushed it back up sheepishly and looked around again, so excited he couldn't possibly stay still.

@Giggle

One big, rounded ear twitched, Giggle's dark muzzle lifting from her paws. She squinted, listening for a moment--Is that Bayo? She thought it was, though from this distance, the voice could barely be made out.

The big hyena pushed up, shaking her spotted coat, and a little cloud of spores and dried gunk fell away. Then came the stretch, the yawn, thick teeth gleaming. She set off toward her bone pit--one big concave bowl in the rock, filled with old bones, a ledge jutting out above it--at an easy, muscled trot. But despite the hyena's strength in those teeth, jaws and limbs, there was nothing of the predator in the way she moved. When she slid into sight, dark eyes keenly searching for the voice's owner, she was just a person: easygoing, a little weary, a dry humor to even her casual glance. A warm rasp tinged the deep voice she called out with: "Bayo?"

Then her gaze fell upon the pup: tiny, scraggly, striped here and there. The expression on her scarred face went from strong and matter-of-fact to soft, warm, her eyes widening a tad. A baby, she realized, and her short tail gave a brief few wags as she approached.

She offered Bayo a nudge of greeting first, snout to snout, and then dropped heavily to her hindquarters with a little puff of dust. "Good to see you, kiddo," she said warmly, and then nodded to the kid. "And who's this? -Who've you brought with you? Hello," she added kindly, this to Relic herself.

@Relic

They reached the bone pits, Bayo rushing forward to run aimlessly in his excitement, drawing a small giggle from the pup as she watched his elated dance. They couldn’t imagine being that happy to see someone, though in their inexperience they couldn’t imagine much. They trotted forward as the coyena circled, calling out to his mother.

Maybe a dose of suspicion would be healthy given that this was someone who lived had decided to live in a cave filled with dead things, but as a born scavenger it didn’t strike the child as odd. They did feel anxiety, even as they halted they shifted their weight from limb to limb, tail striking a swift tempo. Would Giggle approve of them?

The harshest of the social anxiety was kept at bay by Bayo, as he turned to give the girl a reassuring grin, knocking his hat over his eyes as he did so. It was hard to feel scared of much at all with such a cheerful companion.

But as the new hyena walked into their line of sight, she felt herself shrink back into themself again. It wasn’t so much her outward demeanour that spooked her, just… everything else. The scars that crisscrossed her face, dyed fur a gruesome visage of a skull, the various kinds matter that clung to her fur. There was a lot of her as well, frame large and stocky. It would be fair to say the pup was intimidated.

Whatever they had expecting, they hadn’t been expecting someone so dusty. She wasn’t quite sure what they had been expecting to be honest. “Hi.” Whatever confidence they had gained previously ebbed away, unease taking its hold again in its place.

@Bayo