It was with the utmost trepidation that Wilder stepped back into the room of bones. Nothing good ever happened here for her. She could easily count at least five life altering incidents that actively made her life worse or harder that had occurred in this room. Of course, there had also been good times, distant memories, and some new ones as well. But sometimes it was difficult to shuffle those to the forefront when the negatives were...very very negative.

It didn't help that this room was still horrible infested. She sniffed with disdain as she picked her way over and around the white mold and fungus that had been here for far too long. Maybe they needed some organizing here, too, to get it out. But that wasn't her responsibility - doubtless it would go well if she tried.

Vaati slinked behind her, staying mere inches from her tail, as nervous around the white as Wilder was, but at least he was steadfast and confident in their goal - he had never met Giggle, so he did not have the same personal experience with her disdain as Wilder did. She didn't know why the hyena had never liked her during her time with the Bonebound. She'd shown nothing but respect and admiration for her, but there had always been mistrust there, and active hate when her mistakes had been made.

She didn't want that. Maybe this was arrogant of her, then, to be trying to mend something that had never been fully formed to begin with. But she'd been on a bit of a mending journey with all the gembound from her past. She'd semi-made up with Pride and Aure already, Giggle was next on her list. If not mending a relationship, then leaving her with an apology gift, which she planned to offer anyways.

The two of them approached the bonepit where she knew Giggle frequented (or lived at? Wilder had never asked) and sat just outside the ring of mushrooms that held off the infections. She let out a calling trill, followed by a gentle, "Giggle? Are you there?"

@Giggle

The answering cry came from overhead, a soft echo repeating Wilder's words without meaning. 'Giggle? There-are-Giggle? You-are-there?'

The rustle of wings as Omen settled on a rock outcrop a little overhead, ruffling black feathers into place and blinking a single red eye down, silenced the jumbled words. Then its head cocked, as if it were listening to something; and a moment later it very carefully enunciated: 'Am Coming, Wilder.' The raucous, proud shriek it allowed itself after--wings spread--was TOO loud.

A few moments later, Giggle paced into view up the dusty trail. Behind her, the infestation was barely kept at bay, and judging by her weary trudge, it was an ongoing battle. Thin lines of bioluminescent fruiting bodies indicated where the mold ended and her own rotting gardens began. And as always, she stank; the threads of her own fungus, and mats of spores, clung to spotted fur.

"Wilder," she greeted, sparing a glance and a nod to Omen, and then a curious peer at Vaati.

It could not be denied that Giggle was, in a word, racist. Or... speciest, maybe. But whatever in her past had stoked her deep dislike of cats, she hid it now; or maybe she was too damn tired. And whatever problems she might hold with Wilder, she didn't show them, instead rocking back indifferently to thud the back of her own ear with a hind leg, scratching away a cloud of dust and dander. "It's not exactly prime vacation space," the old hyena offered abruptly, as if continuing from unspoken thought. "So I guess you have a specific reason for being here?"

Another sentence twisted up as if continuing that thought, but intended for Wilder's mind. 'And the Hive is always listening, here, so if there's anything sensitive you want to say...' The implication was obvious; their shared power could help them avoid unwanted attention.

@Wilder

Wilder watched as the old bonespeaker approached, feeling another shiver of nerves. She'd always felt...uncomfortable in Giggle's presence. Not that there was anything wrong with the hyena, of course, but simply that she felt such a gap in their understanding and experience and wisdom. There always seemed like there was more that she knew and Wilder was but an ignorant child next to her scope of knowledge. But she kept it under wraps for the time being, presenting herself as steady, calm, and collected. Perhaps a far different character then the one Giggle had once known long, long ago.

"Hello," she greeted with a respectful dip of her head. "Sorry to disturb you, um, yes I came to see you." She glanced around at the mold around them and the thought came to her just as Giggle's voice reached her mind. If the Hive picked up on what she intended to do, or what she could do, then...she could put herself in danger. Potentially Giggle as well. She didn't know the Hive's relationship with Hume or vice versa, but there was no way it could be good.

But as she reached out to strengthen their link so that they could properly converse, her own magic fumbled and she sent the thought through the existing magic - she'll switch to their silent communication if it became necessary to protect them.

She much preferred to speak about personal matters physically, anyways.

"So, ah, yes, I came to see you," she repeated, her nerves finally giving her away a bit. "I'll just...get to the point. I wronged you and your family in the past and it's something I cannot truly apologize for. You took me into your home and your ways as the Bonebound and I betrayed all of your trust time and time again. I brought misfortune and hurt and I...I never apologized for it or tried to make it right. Maybe its too late to fix anything but...I just wanted to come and truly say that I'm sorry. For everything that happened all that time ago, for never coming back...yeah. And I wanted to offer what I can with this apology, if you'll accept it." She paused, waiting for Giggle to process and respond, and hopefully accept her mystery gift.

@Giggle

The old hyena arched a brow, studying Wilder for a moment. After a moment she opened her mouth to answer, except the parted jaws triggered further weariness, it seemed, and split into a broad yawn. She shook her head, and barked a laugh as it ended. "Sorry for that," she grunted. Then the curious peer returned to Wilder.

"You came to apologize-? For which bits, exactly?"

There seemed to be amusement there. Maybe Giggle was getting an admittedly gentle kick out of having the cat recite her perceived past wrongs; maybe she really wanted to know which 'crimes' Wilder thought worth apologizing for.

Either way, she continued, after a moment: "You're right, though, it wasn't really me. It was to the Bonebound, at least a little. You could always apologize to Aure-?" There was a question in it: why Giggle? But a playful lilt laced her follow-up suggestion: "Or Aza'zel?"

@Wilder

Wilder had been expecting some kind of exacts and took a deep breath. She would rather have left it to "past crimes" but if Giggle wanted the full list, she'd do her best to give it.

"Well...in general, putting your family in danger with my ignorance and arrogance. The deal with the Hive - thinking I could somehow fix things without consulting anybody and getting myself infected and bringing it back here, awakening Rezik because I know he ended up causing everyone trouble, all the pain I caused your son..." Her eyes closed at this and her ears swiveled back as an almost physical ache lit up in her chest. She let it pass for a moment before she opened her eyes again.

"I've apologized to Aure already. We...talked. And I think things are okay. But I wanted to apologize to you too, because...I mean, the Bonebound are your family, aren't they?" She shuffled her feet, feeling hot under her fur as she continued. "Also I...always respected you, I thought your bone reading was cool and I wanted to talk to you about it but I thought you didn't like me for a long time. And I wasn't really sure why, if I'd done something wrong. And then I did a lot of things wrong. So I feel like I owe you at least an apology."

She blinked, confused at the mention of the name and tilted her head. "Aza'zel? Isn't he...dead? I could go apologize to his memory or...something?" She was very thrown off by the mention and stood there stunned and confused for the moment.

@Giggle

Giggle settled on her rump, periodically stretching or yawning or shaking herself. She shook her head at the mention of Rezik: "That blue bastard. You couldn't have known. -I assume," she added, drily.

She was silent for the rest, still visibly weary, while Omen began to preen on her ledge above. When Wilder had finished, Giggle again shook her head, as if to dismiss the past entirely. "Thanks--I think it's cool. And I know you did some shit, but really, I don't like cats." She said it bluntly, giving Wilder a brief glance of appraisal. "They always fuck us over. But--here you are apologizing, so we'll see what happens." It was non-committal. But her mind was going back to the lions that had lied, dismissed or attacked, insulted, and so on; the various cats that had also-... Although. "Dovefeather was okay." She remembered that one--filled with vibrating purr, nonstop.

She shook her head a third time, and smirked then at Wilder. "He was dead. But-... well, what did you wish for?" she asked, mischief in her eyes. Would Wilder remember that Giggle, too, had been there-? I hope she didn't waste it, Giggle thought abruptly, mischief giving way to worry. What if she'd wished for something small, not knowing it could bring back the dead-? And if she had someone she wanted to bring back..?

Shit, I'd actually feel bad then, Giggle thought.

@Wilder

Wilder shrugged, a little uneasy at the presumption that she didn't know Rezik was...like that. She should have known, realy. She'd seen him kill in her visions, but she'd been so naive. Oh, surely it was for a reason! He was protecting people! Why would he kill in cold blood? She'd been so foolish. "No, I didn't." It wasn't a lie, she truly hadn't known. "Maybe if I hadn't been such a dumb kid I would have been more cautious about digging him out of the ground. Just another mistake to add onto the pile." She frowned.

But...learning that Giggle's dislike of her stemmed from not something that she did or the way she acted but just...out of a dislike of cats? She stared at the hyena for a moment, wondering if she should find it funny or not. "O-oh, okay. Sorry that you had bad experiences with cats. Hopefully I won't, uh, fuck you over anymore then I have." Right, at least she did apologize. She let herself smile just a little bit. "Dovefeather? Who was that?"

And then came the question and Wilder was a second away from opening her mouth and answering when she paused and looked to the side, where white was still growing rampant. "Uh, well, I'll tell you, just..." She gave Giggle a knowing look and made to make some kind of mental connection. And, of course, the magic snapped back and backfired, sending a searing migraine straight into her head. She flinched and raised a paw, scrunching her eyes against light that suddenly felt too bright. "Fuckin. Ow."

@Giggle
Running out of ways to describe wilder crit failing this damn spell

Giggle fired Wilder a second look of appraisal--and one of understanding. She shifted on her haunches, focusing on her spell, while at the same time switching (audible) topic. "Dovefeather was a cat," was her initial blunt answer, followed by at least a little exposition. "She purred a lot. And hung around here a lot. When things went bad," she went on, looking around the mold-strewn cave, "she was involved. In trying to figure it out, I mean," Giggle added, barking a short laugh.

Beneath that small talk, her magic was blooming; carefully shaped by a split attention (which was hard), but eventually snapping into place. Once it was settled, she pressed rounded ears forward, her eyes glinting with a hint of mischief.

I think I've got you, she tried, mind-to-mind. An open link with which Wilder could, at least for the moment, communicate--if she so wished.

@Wilder

Thankfully, Giggle got the message. She breathed a bit of relief and half listened to the hyena's rambling as their connection was forged and Wilder leaned into it. Finally, they could speak and through Giggle's own magic, Wilder reached back and the bond was strengthened for the time being, their magic threading and tangling together. They could speak privately.

"I didn't know it could bring back the dead. But I am not surprised. I thought for a long time what to wish for. And I settled on asking for Her to be here, to help us." The owl-meteor, the gentle sound of "wake up" whispered in their ears, and that edge of madness they had all skated in Paradise, accompanied Wilder's words. Along with the distant feeling that Wilder had felt when making her wish - that desperation for a better life, not just for her but for everyone. And the wisteria grove and the cosmic sky, and the image of Hume, just for a moment - she did not let it linger, lest Giggle fall into the madness that had afflicted her.

Wilder's eyes were sparkling with this madness now, a desperation in her to help, to do something, even if Giggle was not immediately in danger and was not asking for it. She felt like she could do something here. She had to, she had to. "She gave me her magic of Wishing, just a little but enough. It's why I came here today. I wanted to offer you a wish - another one, I guess. As a peace offering, if it was needed, or as a gift. I don't know if what was given to me is the same, or as strong, but its power is real. I am using it as carefully as I can."
She blinked and shifted, tilting her head just a little bit, and then spoke out loud, breaking the momentary silence that had fallen between them. "So is there...anything you want, Giggle? Anything you would wish for?"

@Giggle

The sheer generosity staggered her, and she found herself momentarily stunned into silence. In an instant she found herself reappraising Wilder, her own brown eyes peering searchingly at the cat. And then the typical, if brief and wordless, question of whether it was some sort of trick--but no, she didn't think so, and it was dismissed before it'd really taken shape in her mind.

Which was for the best, given their current link. Oh, Giggle thought, and it probably came through the link although it had been unintentional. She looked around briefly, realizing they'd just been sitting there staring in silence for an awkwardly long moment, at least to outside eyes. In case of said eyes, she coughed, and looked around. "Give me a minute. Magic," she explained, in the most half-assed possible excuse, before allowing her intent gaze to drift slowly back to Wilder.

"That's-... good of you. To think of the well-being of everyone." Giggle shook her head for a moment, brow furrowing as if baffled, her thoughts and voice both silent for a beat. Wordless images and feelings were coursing through her mind--rosters of the long-dead and the -missing, the faces she'd seen (and what might they need?), the Gembounds and the caves as a whole. She was going over possibilities in her mind, but after a moment her focus sharpened again on Wilder. "Has it got a limit-?" Then she remembered what the cat had just said. "You don't know the limit?" she guessed. "You can't pass that power on, I guess?" Then her eyes narrowed in thought, sudden generous impulse striking her in turn. "Can you use it on yourself? -For your own wishes? Is there something you might want?"

The implication being that if so, maybe Giggle could wish for her, as though it was some sort of genie magic with complicated rules.

Giggle didn't know; maybe it was.

She turned her attention to refocusing her magic, to strengthen and hold up her end of the link, though she spoke aloud again. "I think we're clear. Just keeping watch for any unwelcome visitors." "I mean, I'm not actually, but..." The faintest shrug and barest hint of a wink touched her form.

@Wilder