“Up for a dive, Vee?” Mentos could barely keep his eyes trained on the pile of garbage because it was sticking up his vision.

"Hmm…" Hao contemplated Mentos’s question for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah…" He had a brainwave, an idea that didn't require him to dive into the rubbish pile. “I know how to solve this issue.” His call went out to the Sword Fishes, Euphy and Symphy. These peculiar beings, resembling a bizarre fusion of shrimps and fish, scuttled towards the garbage heap apace. They coiled their twin tails around the bone and with a strength that belied their small stature, they wrestled the bone out from its resting place amidst the waste.

The spectacle was quite the sight. The Sword Fishes wrestling with the bone was akin to watching a pair of toddlers trying to move a piece of furniture. This was primarily due to their earlier water wastage while entertaining the children. The disturbance caused the resident swarm of flies to take flight, creating a shifting black cloud against the otherwise clear sky.

"Wow, look at that," the children chirped as their faces reflected pure wonderment at the sight of the Sword Fishes swimming through the air with the colossal bone.

“We have to move faster! These flies are getting vicious.” Hollered Mentos while swatting away a few bugs.

The trio made a hasty retreat back into the shack as the Sword Fishes followed closely.

"Hurry up and close the door," Hao instructed, and with the eager assistance of the kids, they managed to barricade the irate swarm outside.

“Wow, if we had been a second later those flies would have barged in here.” Lanor cleared her brow.

"Place it on that broad counter over there," Hao indicated a sizable counter tucked away in the corner. The Sword Fishes obeyed and gingerly began setting down the bone. THUD! The counter vibrated slightly.

"What's so special about that bone?" Lanor probed, her curiosity sparked. "Did you nab it from a deceased Bastian or something? I know that's just your style." She was well aware of Hao's light-fingered habits, and it wouldn't surprise her if he had swiped the bone from a fallen creature.

Hao and Mentos kept mum about the bone's origin.

"I don't know what's so special yet, but there's something there, I can feel it," Hao confessed while tracing the bone’s surface. An odd vibration was pulsating under his fingertips, creating a rhythmic beat that appeared to be more than mere coincidence.

As she watched him, Lanor’s brow was knitted in confusion. Leaning towards Mentos, she whispered, "What is he doing?"

Mentos answered, "He's doing his Vibe Sensing thing, I believe. Not sure what he hopes to achieve."

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In the meantime, the children busied themselves with dousing the Sword Fishes in water. It served the dual purpose of rinsing off the residual grime from their bodies and chasing away the few flies that had managed to infiltrate the shack.

"That's weird," thought Hao as he surveyed the bone.

"What is, mate?" Mentos probed, craning his neck to look over Hao's shoulder.

"I can feel the vibration condensing at several areas, swirling even..." Hao's voice trailed off with his attention still firmly fixed on the bone.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Lanor wanted to know more.

Ignoring her query, Hao extended his hand. "Pass me something that I can use to give this a proper pounding."

"You mean like a hammer?" Lanor hunted around the shack for something suitable. Spotting an old hammer amid a pile of discarded items near Boulder, she instructed, "Boulder, bring that hammer here real quick." She met him halfway to collect the hammer, passing it to Hao. "Will this do?"

Hao accepted the hammer, curling his fingers around the worn handle. "It's no top-tier tool, but it will do." He began to methodically tap the bone, focusing on areas where he detected the strange vibrations. Each tap was delivered with precision, his ears tuned to the subtle shifts in the vibrational patterns.

Tap! Tap!

"Did you learn something, Vee?" Mentos queried after a while.

"I need to find the sweet spot," Hao’s focus was unwavering. He targeted the bone's centre, paying close attention to the subsequent vibrational sequences. Abruptly, a sharp point jutted out from the bone, nicking his fingers. He quickly withdrew his hand, soothing the sting with a comforting suckle.

"Ouch!" Hao winced at the unexpected pain.

Lanor and Mentos rushed to his side, concern painting their faces.

"You okay, mate?"

Before Hao could respond, the bone began a shocking transformation. The spot stained with Hao's blood dulled to a sombre grey, which then swept across the entire bone before it disintegrated into dust on the counter.

“What the…?” Hao was taken aback by this.

Everyone backed away from the counter with shock rippling through their expressions. A hushed silence then took hold of the shack, broken only by the children's verbal wonder. The initial tension dissolved, replaced by a sense of intrigue. Despite the unexpected twist, they were all captivated by the bone's enigma but only Hao was keen to unravel its secrets.

"I suspect something like that would happen. That bone was too damn old," Said Mentos, eyeballing the counter. The grey dust, once a magnificent bone, lay strewn about, nothing more than a relic of time. "Now it's just like its counterpart." His words bounced around the worn-out wooden walls and the rusty metal roof of the shack

With his gaze narrowed at the dusty remnants, Hao shot back, "Acknowledged, but that still doesn't account for the firmness it boasted moments ago." Thoughts whirled in his mind like a tornado, struggling to make sense of the mysterious bone. Its age, granted, but its transformation into dust seemed more peculiar. It was like a vessel of secrets, now lost in a sea of grey.

Very irritatingly, Lanor spoke up, "You've created quite the mess here. Hao" She gestured at the dust covering the counter, she was clearly frustrated by it. "Better tidy up. I'm stepping out for a bit.” With a decisive turn, she headed for the shack's exit.

But before she could reach the door, a chorus of voices stopped her in her tracks. "Big sis, are you going into town? Can you take me with you this time, please, please, please?" Nancy pleaded with anticipation.

“Can you take me with you too, please?” The other kids’ voices were merging into a cacophony of pleas. They crowded around Lanor with their eager faces upturned. This strategy effectively blocked her path to the exit