The walking dead woman wanted a drink now? She hadn't thought of that before she had led the Ascended into opening the Spire that so many Naturals had banded together to protect? How many of her brethren had her leadership coaxed inside without similar protections, while she stood safely outside, waiting to claim what their loss might procure for her?
Friend of Rory's she might be, but she hadn't acted much like a friend, challenging him during the day and then trying to slink behind his back at night, rather than ask him why he had gathered people to stand guard over the obelisk that held the keys to salvation and damnation all at once. If she had she might have known that they hadn't meant to lock the Spire away forever, only for a little while longer, while they finished studying it and gathering what support they could from the gods, training and growing in strength before they made a final move against it - together.
But no one had wanted to wait. The damn thing had stood for three hundred years and no one could be convinced to hold off for three fucking weeks.
Anger roiled in his gut, unexpectedly hot and fierce, butRory was looking at him with blue eyes black as shadow, and Jigano recalled the feel of tears soaking into his fur. His temper did not quench, exactly, but the fires of it banked as he looked from gentle Rory to bright Edrei - wild, willful, and fully ready to give in to her own temper - and he shook his head at her explanation, biting his lip against the swift retort that would help no one.
Calm. Breathe. Listen.
Act.
"He's not your enemy, Edy," the white-haired bard said quietly, in contrast to the snarls of the beasts gathered all around. He kept his tone level, kept his own anger out of it, but he moved to stand subtly between both Rory and the fire mage, blocking both their vitriol with his body, as best he could. "We wanted everyone to slow down and think before we opened up this spider's nest. People were still upset from the Outlander assault on the Demon, and Ronin's death. We needed time to try and heal the rift that sprang open from that... and neither Roana nor the Ascended were thinking of anything other than their own glory." He shook his head in a tightly-controlled display of his own frustration, glancing to the gaping maw at the Spire's base with a frown. "If you want a fight so badly, there might be an opponent worth your skills in there."
But then the impetuous girl seemed to soften and offer her... services... to the woman who had sent her own troops in without her leadership, and Jigano's expression tightened in concern. It was a worry he dared not voice, however. Edy was, now and always, her own woman, and capable of making her own choices. He might not agree with those choices, and he wanted to sit down with her and have a long one-on-one talk when this was all over... but he had no right to interfere in this. Still taut as a drawn bowstring, he turned back to Rory and caught his friend's eyes - and his hand, against the flinch of reflected firelight in them. Tangling their fingers together if he was allowed he gave a little shake of his head, as confused as the blond but feeling stronger for the touch they shared, and the reminder that neither of them stood alone in the dark.
"They might be idiots," he said softly, for Rory's ears alone, "And they might have picked poor leaders to follow... but enough people have died for this, or been hurt for it." And Rory not least among them, for all that the wounds he carried were on the inside. "If it sounds like they need help... would you be able to forgive me, if I go in and try to bring them out again?"
Friend of Rory's she might be, but she hadn't acted much like a friend, challenging him during the day and then trying to slink behind his back at night, rather than ask him why he had gathered people to stand guard over the obelisk that held the keys to salvation and damnation all at once. If she had she might have known that they hadn't meant to lock the Spire away forever, only for a little while longer, while they finished studying it and gathering what support they could from the gods, training and growing in strength before they made a final move against it - together.
But no one had wanted to wait. The damn thing had stood for three hundred years and no one could be convinced to hold off for three fucking weeks.
Anger roiled in his gut, unexpectedly hot and fierce, but
Calm. Breathe. Listen.
Act.
"He's not your enemy, Edy," the white-haired bard said quietly, in contrast to the snarls of the beasts gathered all around. He kept his tone level, kept his own anger out of it, but he moved to stand subtly between both Rory and the fire mage, blocking both their vitriol with his body, as best he could. "We wanted everyone to slow down and think before we opened up this spider's nest. People were still upset from the Outlander assault on the Demon, and Ronin's death. We needed time to try and heal the rift that sprang open from that... and neither Roana nor the Ascended were thinking of anything other than their own glory." He shook his head in a tightly-controlled display of his own frustration, glancing to the gaping maw at the Spire's base with a frown. "If you want a fight so badly, there might be an opponent worth your skills in there."
But then the impetuous girl seemed to soften and offer her... services... to the woman who had sent her own troops in without her leadership, and Jigano's expression tightened in concern. It was a worry he dared not voice, however. Edy was, now and always, her own woman, and capable of making her own choices. He might not agree with those choices, and he wanted to sit down with her and have a long one-on-one talk when this was all over... but he had no right to interfere in this. Still taut as a drawn bowstring, he turned back to Rory and caught his friend's eyes - and his hand, against the flinch of reflected firelight in them. Tangling their fingers together if he was allowed he gave a little shake of his head, as confused as the blond but feeling stronger for the touch they shared, and the reminder that neither of them stood alone in the dark.
"They might be idiots," he said softly, for Rory's ears alone, "And they might have picked poor leaders to follow... but enough people have died for this, or been hurt for it." And Rory not least among them, for all that the wounds he carried were on the inside. "If it sounds like they need help... would you be able to forgive me, if I go in and try to bring them out again?"
