So, I finally decided Bonechime's backstory, which will kind of explain the picture above. Been wanting to give him some proper artwork, so, here it is... and guh, forgive my sloppy backgrounds... I'm still working on it. Still far less detailed than what I have planned for Dusk. x.x;

So, in any case, here's Bonechime's story.

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Once a time ago, there was an very proud aetherling. His essence was of bone, and he took great pride in the work he carried out; often being called upon by aetherlings and humans alike to help clean up graveyards and even provide bone essence for medicine. His crystals were to be envied with how smooth and well shaped they were, and more often than not he'd get praise for their beauty. He'd hold his head up high, letting his mane flow in the wind, accepting that praise and adoration, holding that title with the pride of a prince.

The Prince of Bones; that's what he came to be known as. Traveling around the different dominions, he spread his wealth of medicines and happily helped all those who needed, for although he had great pride, he did not see a reason for his wealth to be hoarded. Despite the bones being food for him, there was always more than enough to go around, and he was happy to have people healed by the remedies made from the essence.

For his medicine, people and aetherlings would trade him their own goods, and he graciously accepted some of the gifts, while declining others; if they didn't have enough to give, he wouldn't ask anything from them. He saw it as a circle of kindness; you do something out of goodwill for someone, then perhaps they'll pass on such an act to someone else, and so on. It was a sort of karma, a belief he followed and hoped others would also begin to believe.

There came a time though, when he became too trusting, and he learned the most difficult way that not all those out in the world are open to such kindness, nor do they return it. Unfortunately, his kind instincts were blind to those intentions, and if you were one of the fortunate few to have met him before that incident, you would not recognize the aetherling that now stood before you.

It all started with a look.

He was visiting a small village where the people there were on short medical supplies. They desperately needed the essence, but had a few run-ins that caused a good number of the aetherling population to flee. When the infamous Prince of Bones arrived, they were all too grateful for his aid and cooperation, and he was all too obliged to help.

As usual, he made sure he had quite the crowd to be able to soak in any and all praise he could get; he may not have the essence of praise, but it sure felt good to receive. Though even as he looked across the crowd, admiring the thanks and well wishes he was getting for handing out his essence, he noticed some leering eyes just beyond the group, watching him from the shadows.

Curiosity had gotten the best of him, and since he was done handing out his essence, he decided to investigate; working his way over to the pair of eyes. As he got closer though, the bright sapphires of their eyes gave a quick flicker, and disappeared into the darkness. Perking his ears, he quickly followed after the mysterious being, curious about those dazzling eyes and whom they belonged to.

Though a series of alleyways and small passages, he nearly ran nose-first into the blue aetherling. Wiggling his nose and taking a step back, he quickly stammered out an apology, though it fell short upon his gaze meeting her's. This Aetherling was quite captivating, from her sapphire blue eyes to her nearly pitch black pelt; and of course, those stunning red crystals. It was like she stepped out of a dream.

"What?... Cat got your tongue?" she remarked, almost mockingly, making the young prince shake himself out of his daze. "N-no I...I just couldn't help but... notice how.. lovely you are..." swallowing that nervousness and easily picking up his own confidence once more; he was indeed a proud aetherling. He offered her a charmed smile, tilting his head ever so slightly to give her another look over; able to see his reflection in her crystals and half-admiring himself in such beauty.

She noticed this look, and let slip a smirk of her own looking him over and noting the flask on his hip, half full of the bone essence he was known for. It was then when she realized whom she was speaking with, and all the more became interested. "You must be the Bone Prince~?" she spoke softly, curling her crystal encrusted tail around her paws. "Quite full of pride you are sir..." she said absently, letting those stunning eyes catch his.

"In the flesh~" he gracefully took a bow, not catching that warning glint in her eyes, too blind by the praise to be giving a second thought to her intentions. Though he did add a little smirk and half chuckle at her second comment "Well, I do try and be modest, but... if people are willing to give... I don't take shame in receiving..." his pride getting the better of him.

The other chuckled, obviously amused by words, though lifting herself to be able to walk and talk, giving him a motion to follow after so they could keep up the conversation. "Well, perhaps you'd be interested in telling me why you do what you do then?.. I've heard so much huffery and puffery about this so called prince, but to me he just sounds like a walking salesman..."

"Salesman? ha~" he laughed, though easily following after her and keeping pace, mindlessly following her without any care as to where she was leading him. "No no, I don't sell my essence, I give it to those in need, and in return, I am sometimes re-paid with gifts.. but the most rewarding gift, of course, is the thanks I get for helping those in need..."

"Oh really?... no payment or price what-so-ever?.. that's awfully noble of you kind sir" she chuffed lightly. "Nah, it's better to give than it is to receive~ you see, there's plenty of bones in the world, and we're constantly getting new supply everyday... and the dead certainly don't need it..." this caused the other to chuckle softly, amused by his reasoning, as morbid as they were. "That may be true, but, you need that to survive, right?... it's your essence?" she asked calmly.

"Yes, it is, but.. as I said before, there's plenty to go around.. and if it wasn't obvious enough, I'm doing just fine without the excess..." holding his head high and giving his neck a quick jerk to allow that luxurious mane to wave in ripple to the effect. He got a quirked brow in response, which was enough attention for him to puff out his chest proudly.

"I see, I see... well, you must be quite proud of that fact then? With how much help you give others..." by now their paws had taken to the outskirts of the village, heading towards a rock quarry that was just beyond it. "Well, I don't mean to indulge... but yes... It's a good feeling, helping others... especially when it means life or death at times..." his gaze having never left her, and in so, wasn't aware of the distance they were creating between them and the town.

"I guess there is that point... and you then, would be the reason for their lives being saved... you're their hero~" she smirked, tail flicking to gently bump against him. "Hero? well, I don't know about that..." he tucked his chin a bit to let that mane of his disguise his face for a moment. "Oh yes, a hero~ savior to those in need~ a relief from the clutches of death... you save them from certain demise..." she smiled. "Well... I guess if you put it that way..." he returned the smile, though, by now, took a moment to shake his head to relieve himself from the dizziness he was beginning to feel. It was then when he was able to look around at last.

The glow of the town had been snuffed out by starlight and sky-scrape, the horizon hidden from view by the stack of rocks that lined the quarry. A quiet 'woah' left his lips as he looked around, surprised by the sight before him. He had been to such remote places before, and had seen the stars shine a dozen times over, but the way their light reflected on the rocks just made the entire scene a sight to behold.

By now, she stopped as well, though still lingering close by, watching his awed look as he observed the quarry. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she cooed. "Yes...yes it is..." he said, though his words drifted. Though, it was then when he blinked and began to realize his dizziness wasn't going away, in fact, it was getting worse. "You'll...have to pardon me... but.. I think I need to..." he didn't finish his words before his body fell limp on the rocks.


A few hours, or possibly more than that, had passed before he woke up. Blurred eyes looking about in a daze. A fire was going near by, and some voices echoed through his ears. Shaking his head, they began to become clear. "Well well well, look who's finally awake..." the voice said, and as quickly as he could, he looked to see where the voice came from. A human sat on a rock by the fire, his face illuminated by the flames, and a devilish grim plastered across his dirty face. "You did good with this one, though, I think ya drained him dry... must've been quite the proud little thing, huh?" he chuckled, shifting his gaze to the other aetherling "Yes, he was more than happy to boast about that 'precious essence' of his... acting all high and mighty..."

He tried to move, but found not only did it hurt to do so, he could barely move a muscle besides. Turning his head around, he was able to see the rope that bound his form; but even more distracting, he found those beautiful crystals of his had been broken off; shattered and harvested by some cruel method. He began to panic, but before he could even get out a word, a plea for mercy, for anything, he felt a paw on his back. Barely able to strain his head to look, he saw another aetherling standing on top of him.

"There you go young one, be afraid, be very afraid..." they sneered, narrowing their dark eyes upon him and feeding off that fear that began to pour out of him. "Bind his muzzle, that makes it all the more terrifying" it said, and without much hesitation the human got up from his seat to take a bit more rope and wrap it around the prince's muzzle. He did try to struggle free, but with that aetherling feeding off of his fear, he felt his head grow light again and it wasn't long before darkness closed in on his eyes again.


When he woke up again, the light of the fire had died down to a gentle glow; only a few sparks left still burning. His eyes slowly lifted up, ears turning gently to listen to see if he could hear them. Once he was sure he couldn't hear anything, he forced his aching form to slowly wiggle forward, inching his way towards the fire. He stopped when he thought he heard someone move, holding still until no sounds had been made for a good while. Slowly inching forward until his face was nearly laying on the burning coals.

Now that he was here, he needed to figure out how to get the ropes off. His body went stiff for a moment when he heard someone moving, thinking he had been caught. However, nothing came of it, and after nearly suffocating himself from holding his breath, he finally looked back to the coals. If there was one way to get through this, he knew some marks would need to be left. Taking in a deep breath, he shoved his face on the burning coal, rubbing the rope against it. It was hot, and a few hairs singed, but it was burning through the rope nicely.

He had nearly burned through it, when another sound startled him, causing him to make the mistake of flinching. A bit of the embers got into his eye, causing him to let out a stifled cry and a whimper, pulling his face away from the fire pit and desperately trying to brush the half singed rope off, along with any left over embers. The pain was near unbearable, but he had gotten the rope off his muzzle, and with a few deep breaths, he managed to force himself past the pain. With his head free to move, he looked back at his tied up form, trying to see the best way he could get out of his binds.

Looking back to the embers, he gave a pained whine before shifting his body around again. He had to get out of these binds, even if it meant getting burned again. To his surprise, his shuffling hadn't made too much noise that it was noticeable by the others, and before long, he felt that heat get more intense.

When he felt his binds go loose, he was quick to force himself free and get to his paws. Looking around frantically, he tried to find the quickest escape route, trying to keep his beating heart from sounding too loud. Seeing an opening, he moved forwards, trying to go quietly and without disturbing the others. He managed to make it past the sleeping individuals, moving about their camp unnoticed for the time being. Though he was trying to find his way out, he noticed a pile of several flask and containers, looking as if they were from a variety of aetherlings; his own among it.

He couldn't worry about that now, as he began to hear the sounds of stirring, spooking him into darting from the camp. It was a miracle he got away, seeing as how as soon as he got far enough, he heard grumbles and shouts, claiming that their prisoner had gotten away. He didn't let that stop him though, only hastening his pace and moving forward without caution.

He ran for a long time, never stopping to look back or regard in which direction he was heading. What pride he had left, told him to take a coward's route; keep himself safe, not to worry about anyone else; his own survival, that's what mattered most. Though, he did need some help, so perhaps some people he's helped before would be willing to return the favor.

Nearly collapsing at the edge of the next village, he found himself panting for help; but upon people noticing his condition and lack of flask full of essence, they began whispering and taking about some kind of impostor. Perhaps he was there just to take the essence they were so kindly given. He attempted to reason with them, but ended up being chased out of town.

There was nothing left but fear; his pride had been shattered with his crystals, taken from him by that aetherling, and fear prayed upon by the other. Fear however, was what he had plenty of now. He felt robbed, tricked, betrayed by his own kind, and those he had tried to help. Maybe it was his head, getting too big for his shoulders, or maybe it was his essence and beliefs that got him into that kind of trouble. He didn't know, but what he did know was that he was done being friendly, done being kind and giving; he was going to fend for himself and care only for himself.

Pride was his downfall, he knew that much; but trust in others, that was his major fault. He should have never trusted so much, cared for other's well being. Humans especially with their greed. He saw now that trust in others was a fool's errand, and it was not something he'd do again, at least not lightly.

All alone, he paused to stare at his own reflection in the water. The burn along his cheek was nicely covered by his mane, allowing him to escape any questions about such at least. He could see his former self; the aetherling he used to be. Kind.. soft.. proud. He'd have to reject that side of himself if he wanted to stay safe. He was not proud, or happy with himself, and he no longer saw others as friends or even worth sticking close to. No longer would he seek out that attention, no longer would he try to help those just to be taken advantage of.

He was alone in this world; and he'd have his fractured crystals to remind him of that.

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Well, that turned out a lot longer than I was expecting. Nevertheless, that's Bone's story, and why he doesn't trust people or aetherlings.

Might make a few adjustments, but I've been writing this for a long while now, and I think its about time to submit it.


If you didn't understand; he was basically stripped of his pride, which made him a coward and distrusting towards others, but mostly himself. So now he keeps to himself, fearful of how others might treat him, and no longer having any pride in what he does or why he may need others.


Any aetherlings in this story other than Bone, do not exist/are completely NPC/canon. Please don't think I made any unofficial aetherlings or am hinting at any that exist.

Bonechime Character, Story and Design ©  whitefoxfire
Aetherling Species © http://kuritures.deviantart.com/

Please do not steal in any way shape or form; do not roleplay, he is mine.