Conception thread backdated (with CJ's permission!) specifically to February 1st, 2020 to account for the happenings between Opal's assassination attempt and Astraea's summoning of the Bonebound.

Opal was situated - awake, but situated. They'd helped him in connecting the dots, and he promised to hang around long enough to assure Astraea that their failure wasn't any of their fault (though, there were suspicions that the eel simply wasn't well enough to leave.) The Bone King didn't particularly want him to leave, anyways, out of a concern for him winding up trapped again. Aure hadn't left Canis in quite some time, trying - and failing - to count down the days until two cycles, until they marched off to Cetus, until they tried to destroy a mighty evil.

Hydra was the least of his worries, at the moment. All that the old champion had said took precedence over one Trial that was sure to be avoided by the Bonebound.

The Children of Rot needed their help, though; that fact couldn't be ignored, danced around. Dragon's meeting had been to establish a close alliance, and they had to follow through. What were the two clans if not an interlocked family? This was something they had to do.

And this? This, Aure felt like he needed to do - in case of... something. Disaster? Mass induction? The end of his entire family?

He paced the length of the path leading up to his father's cairn, head turning once this way and once that way, ears flickering around as he hunched over. Finally, he settled at the lip of it and twittered softly into the rest of Canis, "Eythan?"

So, a lot of shit's happened.

All of this managed to top finding out that Canis really was a gravesite - and ancient hunting grounds for apparent rebels, hiding places for defects, et cetera. All of this managed to top being the one to send his father over the edge and into the abyss. All of this managed to top -

Okay, let's stop thinking about piling on.

Eythan's ears flickered up from wherever he was - probably eating a rat - at the call. It was distant enough that the gryphon's eyes immediately set upwards as he approached. The iron-stained mass atop the ridge was clear enough from this direction, and he swooped towards it. No sooner than he landed, the young King was scuffling to his feet.

Oh, that's quick - Aure stumbled mentally, somehow unprepared for an interaction he'd instigated. His legs sprang up, tail working feverishly from side to side as he paced closer, "I - Eythan, I've made a decision." A light cough flitted from his beak, dispelling the formalities he'd suddenly concocted.

"I do want to - make -" The phrasing sounds off. "someone. Leave a part of my gem for the future." Aure stopped abruptly, gesturing with a toss of his head towards the inside of thei father's cairn. The familiar musk of bone and tang of iron-stained feathers came easily through his nostrils, and he inhaled - steadying himself, soothing himself.

Exhaling, the young King turned to Eythan, "I want to leave them with Dad."

Lifting a wingclaw to his brow, he scrubbed a few times, muttering to himself before he lost heart ("how---?") Red jasper sparked from one crest, gleaming once. It grew dull once more as it separated and clattered to the floor.

"Woah -" Eythan started, but a piece of gem had already gone across the ground.

He held it up in one talon, eyeing it with no small amount of scrutiny before setting his sights on Aure.

"You -" the gryphon began once again, swallowing so he could actually get through a full sentence, "you realize that there's a magic-giving part of this, right? Who're you gonna have for that?" In theory, Aure could probably give life to the stone himself - but wouldn't that just generate a strange sort of clone? Somehow, that seemed... too out there. Eythan didn't move for that notion.

After a pause, he pressed, "you - did think about that, right?"

Oh.

"Oh."

Aure's eager stance faltered a little. "No, I didn't," he admitted softly, gazing at his own gem where it sat - held between sharp claws and reflecting mere smudges of light. Not a single clear mirror image in it, like some stones might've held. Clearly, the wyvern didn't think much on the properties of his own crest, either.

He spun on one heel and ambled towards the late King's bones, bright eyes setting onto the hollowed-out eye sockets. Eythan came in closer, placing the jasper before the skull, its narrower end just barely grazing the preserved beak. Aure twisted slightly to stare up at the gryphon for a moment, and blinked once. Perhaps it was a trick of the wind, but he thought that maybe the bones'd said something -

Or, maybe it was his thoughts.

"What about you?" The edge of his beak caught the shard, sending it on a gentle roll into Eythan's talons. "They'd - have a little bit of you, too, right?" Seeing the way his claws shied away, Aure pressed softly, "you don't have to be any kind of father for them. You can just be - an uncle."

No, no - not about him. Wasn't he listening when I said - Eythan didn't mean to jerk away from the gemstone so harshly. A guilty look was directed his brother's way, and Aure's revenge was more assurances.

Being - being an uncle... He could maybe manage that. With no small amount of trepidation, the gryphon nodded mutely and took the jasper into his claws. It reminded him remarkably of holding his own father's stone, and his gaze flickered towards the bones. Bright eyes softened from beneath a furrowed brow.

Dad, if you're out there - I'm not gonna fuck this one up, too.

A breeze stirred in Canis - real or imagined - as Eythan pushed his feeble flow of magicka through the gemstone. It took to it, the dull sheen on its light-facing edge seeming to grow brighter and more definite. A strange weight overtook it, and he shuffled to his feet. Taking care to not allow it to touch the ground and take root inside of Aza'zel's bones, the gryphon paced towards the remnants of Aure's chrysalis. It only seemed right to place this new stone in the center of it.

The red jasper swelled, edges growing jagged but retaining distinct shapes a bit like a rose bud.

Eythan hummed softly, tail flicking once as he looked at Aure - staring at the growth as it happened. "You'll do good, kiddo," he assured, brushing up against the wyvern and plopping down at his side, "we'll be here when they wake up."

He hoped that was a promise he could keep throughout the long silence that followed.

;exit via silence