[SE] Roads we walk in the dark

With every passing moment the body language of the young woman spoke truths that a face or a voice alone could not guarantee. And though Hadama had encountered spirits that were shy or slow to speak he had never heard of any that seemed so uncomfortable to be at the shrine. And the words she spoke were...

All too familiar.

Hadama drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before pushing himself to his feet with unhurried grace. As she confirmed her death he closed his eyes, something tightening in his chest. His jaw. And then he released the emotion, lifting his head to contemplate his old friend anew, seeing the weariness in her but finding no fresh wounds to cause alarm.

"She is... alive," he said slowly, each word dropped like a stone into a still pond. "Your disappearance... was difficult for us. But worse for her. She... blames herself, I think. For your... loss." His large hands hung at his sides, outwardly relaxed though there was a piercing intensity to the emerald gaze that rested upon Maea. "I am... well enough. Torchline endures. But you are not the only one who disappeared last year." He tilted his head slowly, attempting to gauge what she knew before his voice gentled on the difficult words that followed. "Harper is also... lost. To us." Dead, according to reports from the Hollowed Grounds where his body had been found.