The tears that began to fall anew did not surprise him, but the anger did, raw and bitter, lashing out with words to harm as surely as any weapon could have. Jigano did not flinch from them at first, but at the mention of people who couldn't be fixed he winced as if struck, pain and black temper flaring in his eyes and the cold shift of his features. "No," he said softly. "No we can't be fixed. It's no one else's place to do so, and sometimes we're too weak to pick up the pieces, or our hands shake too much to put them back together. But sometimes you have to break before you can find the shape you were meant for, even if it takes time to find it. Even if you can only handle one piece at a time, and even then only barely." He drew in an unexpectedly shaky breath of his own, the stranger's words biting a nerve that was raw and bare from his own mistakes, both ancient and recent.
"I'll go that way," he nodded to the east, the direction easier to find now that many of the leaves had fallen, even with the sky as overcast as it was, and threatening a fresh spate of rain to add to the puddles already dotting the ground. "Just beyond earshot. I'll stay there awhile. If you change your mind... if you want to talk, I'll be waiting." And if he didn't? The bard would hardly be harmed by resting his weary bones awhile. He gave the stranger a formal bow, a little stiff but still courteous, and began to stride away.
Up in the trees the flicker of white and blue came again, leaves rustling as golden eyes peered down at the men below, hidden within a blaze of gold and orange foliage as their owner watched their parting curiously and then settled in to wait.
"I'll go that way," he nodded to the east, the direction easier to find now that many of the leaves had fallen, even with the sky as overcast as it was, and threatening a fresh spate of rain to add to the puddles already dotting the ground. "Just beyond earshot. I'll stay there awhile. If you change your mind... if you want to talk, I'll be waiting." And if he didn't? The bard would hardly be harmed by resting his weary bones awhile. He gave the stranger a formal bow, a little stiff but still courteous, and began to stride away.
Up in the trees the flicker of white and blue came again, leaves rustling as golden eyes peered down at the men below, hidden within a blaze of gold and orange foliage as their owner watched their parting curiously and then settled in to wait.
