Kalama had endured the trials. A pair of broken bones, and been half killed by a dragon. And now? Kalama was back in Canis. Ready to claim her throne.

Her rightful spot as the true ruler of the bonebound, not that weakminded bird who was short. She was better than Aure in every way, especially with her big toe clickers and big teeth.

She didn't know what her dad--no, Eythan saw in him that he didn't in her, she was so much cooler. And stronger. And now, they would all know.
Since emerging from her chrysalis back in January, escaping from Hydra, she had an offscreen training arc. Gotten her leg muscles back to working condition. And now? She was ready to ursurp Aure.

Kalama plodded along the bone strewn ground of Canis, head swiviling for any flash of Aures reddish orange feathers. She paused, clicking her toes. Thinking. "Aure!" She yelled, massive fangs clicking against her bottom bill. "Come face me! I have a request!"

Well, it wasn't so much a request as a trial by combat. But she thought that would scare Aure off. No, she needed to get Aure to her, and make an offer he couldn't refuse.

think "speak"

@Aure

This thread is open to all bb!! Any unaffiliated gembound are welcome to watch!

The old hyena's head lifted from her paws, the questioning of her familiar echoed in her own mind.

Who was that unfamiliar voice who was calling for her son? It didn't sound urgent--a request, not an emergency, it seemed--but Giggle shook herself and pushed up, wandering over to see what was going on, and whether she was needed, nonetheless.

Above, her Caller circled, watching for her: a bird, then, she saw through Omen's eyes. Stocky, pretty-colored, and dark. Large, as far as birds went.

Giggle came in sight and stopped there, still some distance off, watching in a wary way that said she was observing, but not taking control of anything; just seeing whether she'd be needed, or not.

rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr

Oh, that was a familiar voice.

But not a particularly welcome one.

So Ischium sighed, groaned at Amma's clucking, and stood, shook out his fur and sent dust and dirt flying out in a cloud, though still he was filthy, fur matted and clumped and dirt covered as it always was, but he didn't care as he trotted out from his den that he'd grown up in, squinting into the cave.

Ah, what did Kalama want? On second thought, he grabbed Chatter, the rat's head a familiar weight holding his jaw open as he trotted towards the source of the noise, tail wagging slowly, claws clacking on the ground. And--hell, he hadn't realized how big Kalama was until now, and his fur stood on end, staring at the rooster that stood taller than him, oil-slick black and orange feathers gleaming in his eyes, fangs growing from her beak.

"Marry me?"" Chatter gasped, the rat skull still between his teeth, and the coyote pranced in place, fighting the urge to flee, before finally scrabbling over to Giggle, skittering sideways without taking his eyes off of Kalama. He set Chatter down first, careful as could be, before sitting, licking his lips nervously and whispering--though for him, a whisper wasn't much of a whisper, he hadn't a clue what an indoor-voice was, "Miss Giggle, what's happening?"

@Giggle

Every since the hive had gone down in flames, Azrael had kept drifting closer and closer to the Bonebound. Perhaps because he just so happened to be in Canis, where he felt most at home. Or maybe because the only one he really knew outside of the hive was Eythan, one of the Bonebound. Or maybe because he was grateful for his release from Mother's influence.

Whatever the reason, even he heard the chicken's loud screeching and stopped his pacing. He could still feel Forgraves attached to his shoulder and stopped to duck by a rock and carefully take him off and place him on the ground. "Wait here," he rumbled. "I will go see what is making the noise." He turned away and stalked towards the source of the noise, shrouding himself in magic that had his own skin hiding himself from sight. He got closer, not close enough that he'd bump into anyone or alert them to his presence with his heavy footfalls, but close enough to see what the ruckus was about.

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos wasn't far when the call for Aure rang out, and while he wasn't (by a long shot) Aure, it was clear this was going to be a gathering of Bonebound. Whuffing under his breath, the big triple-headed hellhound plodded toward the gathering, ears pricking.

There were a few he didn't know particularly well-- maybe seen in passing-- but he felt confident, with Giggle watching from afar, and took a seat similarly to wait for Aure to arrive, for whatever was going down.

He, like Giggle, was not particularly familiar with the one calling for their leader. Some sort of... Chicken. Maybe Kalama would've smelled like home, had she not been in a land of snow, ice, death-- and then a chrysalis-- for the past of couple of cycles. As it was, this seemed like a stranger, and as of late, the guardian of the gate had been on high alert.

So he watched, all five eyes surveying the scene and watching as the Bonebound gathered.

he whimpered at the noises, sitting in place as Azrael set him down. he nodded, agreeing to stay put, not like he wanted to do anything else. he curled in on himself as Azrael went to check it out, feeling vulnerable without Azrael there to protect him.

@Azrael

M for language

He hadn't gone far--not yet. Rested in his chrysalis like, way, way too long, come out with feathers all the fuck over him and what was that?

Imp had hoped to emerge to Vargas looming, to gloat and yell at him some more, probably get murdered--whatever--but hearing Kalama's venomous screech brought a new grin across his face. It came with... mixed, emotions.

Glad she was alive, first and foremost. Hated her, though, really. And dreaded going anywhere near her; he really didn't want to have to listen to her sociopathic bawling about being the best shitbag the caves had ever seen, offering no nice words or gratitude or anything, really. Asshole. But still, she was alive-!

He shook the feathers loose--he'd have to figure out how those worked, later, and honestly why he even had 'em--and squinted empty eye sockets as he concentrated. Right-... magicka flared up. Gembound lurked all over, over there--one big fucker, with wings, and Kerberos-! He knew him!-and some others he thought he recognized.

Imp flew briefly, a short, low flight that left him skidding through bones blindly as he landed, and then he wing-walked the rest of the way, using his magicka for guidance.

He'd greet Kalama, sure, but-... meanwhile, he wanted to hear whatever was going down!

"What are they doing?!" a shrill voice demanded, in the distance.

"Oh, what they do best, I suppose..." responded the second, sickly-sweet and silky-smooth.

Rezik--blue and proud, branch-antlered, his mask-like face glaring--emerged over a rocky hill. And beside him, the Collector, cloaked in black as always.

"Oh? Insulting me behind my back, then? Failing to protect me, to defend me? Serving me sick rats for food-?" He stopped, haughtily taking in the surroundings that sprawled bone-strewn beneath some twenty yards beneath the two. They were in full view, full hearing, but Rezik had ensured that he could look down upon the masses, of course.

"Oh, I was thinking more..." and here the Collector gestured, as if searching for a word--and his grin was audible as he finished: "inciting chaos."

Behind them came Vakornol, long, massive body sleek with nasty points and toxic green, loping with a twisted grin on her massive jaws. "Big words for someone almost killed by one of those beasts," she pointed out; and when she turned that grin on Rezik, he quailed away--as if afraid of what else she might suggest.

The Collector, Vakornol, and Rezik, the latter now freshly-emerged from his chrysalis, are also here to observe.

VIVILENE
i make a mess
and you'll be there
to help me undress

For reasons Vivilene wasn't entirely aware of, Attikias had insisted that she started wearing a leathery harness if she was going to go anywhere. Something about this made her a little anxious (as did most things), but she was fairly certain that the purpose of it was to stop her from feeling so afraid all the time.

It worked a little bit. Instead of fully anxious she felt a little silly, too, since her father quite literally had her on a leash as she lead him along to where she had seen a monster that, as Vivilene had tried to explain via magic, tried to eat her. She thought. She wasn't entirely sure. But she could have been eaten and therefore that was reason enough to be so scared she started crying for the fifth time today.

She came to a hesitant stop at the shattered ammolite chrysalis, turning to look at Attikias quietly for a few moments. It was a little easier to reach out to her magicka now, easier to try to communicate. Her gemstone glittered gently as her voice touched Attikias's mind and only his mind-- "it was here," she 'said,' gentle like distant, jingling bells. "It's not here anymore."

In case he was unsure, of course.

She flinched when a voice rang out-- turning her head to look with mild alarm. She glanced back to Attikias, and then forward, and then started edging quietly towards it in silence. The monster might have been there-- though she couldn't see it once the mass of gembounds came into view --and she quietly looked up to her father for mild guidance about what to do next.

@Attikias

As silly as it looked to see a grown man being led by a kid half his size, he held a strain of worry under his emotions. Was it safe to let her wander like he did? Before they set out he'd heard impressions of a monster travelling through here with no shortage of crying and consoling at the memory. What if she got hurt? She wasn't as strong as Volta's (unnaturally) sized paws or as courageous as the alien's half-sibling Hunter.

There was no telling what could happen, and he figured the harness would let her remember him and keep track of him while he was behind her. It was a shame that the magic he struggled to reach failed to fire- he was beginning to get hungry after immediately setting off for this beast. It wasn't long until they hit Canis and, soon, the chrysalis, his want to scoop his daughter into his arms rising more and more. There was a sense of foreboding in that tunnel before this... What if the monster had caused it?

When she paused, he popped a squat by her, tail thumping on the ground as he got to her level. Attentive eyes looked over her as she spoke (she was like Ashtoreth, really... And now he was sad over Fisher). "Where'd you say it ran off to?" His fingers tensed on the knife in his pocket, and the spear on his back felt heavy against his spine. Nothing threatened his daughter if he could do anything to prevent it.

As he made to inspect what had borne such a beast, the call rang out from eerily close by, and his heart jumped to his throat. It wasn't a voice he recognized. Was this the monster looking for a challenge? Did- Did they want to fight day? No, no, it was a different pronunciation, just a bit to the left as he left the ammolite to itself. Vivilene was looking and pleading to him and Attikias's expression struggled to not show worry. He'd only made her feel worse. Instead, he donned a face of stern confusion when he rose to his feet and came closer to his daughter, hand reaching to pull her shoulder close.

They walked together, then, to the gathering. And what a gathering it was- voices to the side caught his attention as he came close, mismatched eyes lying on a very familiar coat.

Ah. Clearing his throat, Attikias squatted once more besides Vivilene and pointed to the Collector, his voice at a low whisper. "Hey, Vivi," he began, his voice careful. "Look. That's the person that gave your dad his knife." He glanced to Kalama's direction before pulling the carving knife from its sheath, turning it in place for Viv to inspect. "He is a very nice man, despite his looks. He is um, very scary, though." The elf gave a soft laugh, here, one that totally wasn't nervous. He'd just realized that he may be spooking the poor girl.

"He has a lot of cool stuff like this. Um, he looks busy though. Do you want to meet him later? ... It's alright if you don't." His gaze was soft on Vivilene's expression, now, watching to see what she'd do and letting her take the tentative lead.