"Well... perhaps they didn't form a companion bond?" Jigano said, a little hesitant, but too tired to be truly hopeful. Samuel seemed to be frozen for a moment, but he shook himself out of it quickly enough and offered an endearingly optimistic spin on Isla remaining with them, as far as the guild went. Too tired to smile, Jigano simply nodded with a slow blink. The demand for his whereabouts earned a grimace, and he reached up to rake long hair back from his face - even though it fell right back a moment later.
"I was supposed to be here, helping Isla in the Infirmary," he said quietly, wincing as he fought back against the clamoring weight of 'might have been's again. "But... I was out doing some last minute gathering and didn't time things quite right. I took shelter in a friend's barn. It would have been a rough week, but I made it a day or two in before we heard the destruction coming from the Settlement." He paused, swallowing as he remembered the fear that had thrummed through him as Rory and Amalia had come rushing out of the house into the night, protected only by the luxere.
"I didn't know, at the time, but Amalia guessed that it was the spark bird perch. She and Rory were going, and I couldn't let them go alone. We made it safely into town but... the perch had been knocked apart." He swallowed again, flinching at the memory. The world lit only by Amalia's blood-red luxere antlers, Edy throwing fire, Rory hitting the ground, the rage Rage RAGE that had boiled up inside him and found outlet in tearing, bloody teeth...
"Edy was there, too, for some reason. We... managed to repair it. Eventually. But Rory and Amalia were... hurt. Badly. So we sought shelter in the Temple, then. I... am sorry, Sam. I thought you were at your home. It didn't occur to me to look for you here. And... I have not had much heart for talking."
"I was supposed to be here, helping Isla in the Infirmary," he said quietly, wincing as he fought back against the clamoring weight of 'might have been's again. "But... I was out doing some last minute gathering and didn't time things quite right. I took shelter in a friend's barn. It would have been a rough week, but I made it a day or two in before we heard the destruction coming from the Settlement." He paused, swallowing as he remembered the fear that had thrummed through him as Rory and Amalia had come rushing out of the house into the night, protected only by the luxere.
"I didn't know, at the time, but Amalia guessed that it was the spark bird perch. She and Rory were going, and I couldn't let them go alone. We made it safely into town but... the perch had been knocked apart." He swallowed again, flinching at the memory. The world lit only by Amalia's blood-red luxere antlers, Edy throwing fire, Rory hitting the ground, the rage Rage RAGE that had boiled up inside him and found outlet in tearing, bloody teeth...
"Edy was there, too, for some reason. We... managed to repair it. Eventually. But Rory and Amalia were... hurt. Badly. So we sought shelter in the Temple, then. I... am sorry, Sam. I thought you were at your home. It didn't occur to me to look for you here. And... I have not had much heart for talking."
